Chicago tips

Now You Can Check Out ChicagoTips On Amazon Kindle

books, nepotism

Do you all know about the Kindle?  It's a new device, an electronic book developed by Amazon that enables one to download from among 90,000 published books;  also selected newspapers, magazines and blogs.  Store up to 200 books at a time on Kindle...even more with an external memory card.

ChicagoTips http://chicagotips.com is right there for you to subscribe to for 99 cents a month.  That means you can even take us traveling with you as well as all those books you've been wanting to read.  It's a chance to choose among them at your leisure.  Bestsellers are $9.99 or less;  older  books  even less. 

The Kindle is 7.5" x 5.3" x 0.7" and weighs 10.3 ounces; see the cool shot of the latter measurement above right, courtesy Amazon.

Lost Chicago Photos Reimerge

current calendar, books, photography

Richard Nickel's Chicago, Photographs Of A Lost City, a newly published book containing over 200 unknown photographs by the esteemed architectural photographer should make a perfect Valentine for someone you know (or yourself).

The authors, Richard Cahan and Michael Williams will be at the Cultural Center for a presentation on Thursday, February 15 at 12:15PM.  Books will be available for purchase and a book signing will follow.  If you need an advance copy you can find one at Prairie Avenue Bookshop, 418 S. Wabash, a fine resource, particularly for architectural books.

Although today Chicago is renowned for its' architecture and attracts many visitors as a result, it wasn't always that way.  During the 50's and 60's many inner city neighborhoods had become slums and many fine loop buildings were demolished in the name of progress.

Richard Nickel and others tried to call attention to this travesty;  Nickel began taking pictures while a student at the Institute of Design which became a center for the New Bauhaus.  There the Chicago photographer Harry Callahan became Nickel's teacher and mentor.  As a student he began a project to photograph architect Louis Sullivan's buildings.  Despite the efforts of Nickel and others, the Garrick Theater and the Chicago Stock Exchange, both fine examples of Sullivan's work were razed.

Tragically Nickel was killed while photographing the partially demolished Stock Exchange.  Perhaps this helped to focus public attention on the progressive devastation of the city.  Nickel's photographs are classic reminders of fine architecture.  Some are permanently displayed in the corridors of the Cultural Center.  The Richard Nickel Commitee and Photographic Archive www.richardnickelcommittee.org  is a non-profit devoted to preserving his work.

Architecture: Homes In Chicago And Beyond

books, culture

Obsessed and offended as I am about the McMansions sprouting up all over town, I was thrilled to find the recently published HOUSES: The Architecture of Nagle Hartray Danker Kagan McCay Penney at the Prairie Avenue Bookshop in town.  A paean to modernism, it presents the work of one of the architectural firm's principals, Jim Nagle. Published in Italy by Edizioni Press, the work shown in the book emphasizes a clean spare aesthetic. 

Jim and his daughter Kathleen Nagle, who is also an architect and who began the logbook that resulted in the book itself are the authors.  Stanley Tigerman, a long-time associate authored the intro.

Since the firm's founding in 1966, houses have formed the basis for a range of designs including larger structures:  multiple family dwellings and high rises, schools and universities, the Oak Park Public Library, a museum in Champaign, IL,  and the handsome Greyhound bus terminal downtown, among others.  NHDKMP has received many awards from the national and Chicago chapter of the American Association of Architects and a variety of other organizations and magazines.

Projects in the book are depicted by wonderful photos along with explanatory text and miniature floor plans drawn by Jim Nagle.

You can purchase this book at the Prairie Avenue Bookshop, a remarkable institution at 418 S. Wabash.  Check out their fascinating out -of- print section when you visit.  800.474.2724.