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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
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 ARCHITECTURE REVIEW 
3

Modern Meets Classical in Chicago Museum Wing

Piano's addition for Art Institute called his best in a decade

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(Newser) – This weekend the Art Institute of Chicago opens a mammoth new modern wing designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano. Nicolai Ouroussof praises Piano's mix of "Modern and classical themes," and "towering glass-and-steel facade, with its floating roof and excruciatingly slender columns" straddling gritty railroad tracks. The New York Times' critic calls the building one of Piano's best, "the closest he has come in at least a decade to achieving his near-classical ideal."

Ouroussof  notes that "the taut forms and refined details, the elevation of an industrial aesthetic to an art form" in the new wing echo the greatest works of modernist Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who moved to Chicago in the '30s. Bloomberg critic James S. Russell is more reserved: he praises Piano's "impeccably proportioned layers of glass" but wonders if, after similar buildings everywhere from Houston to Atlanta to LA, the architect is promoting "an unwelcome aesthetic tyranny."

A stairway at the new modern wing of the Art Institute of Chicago, designed by Renzo Paino.
A stairway at the new modern wing of the Art Institute of Chicago, designed by Renzo Paino.   (©Ben B Miller)
Italian architect Renzo Piano during a ceremony Wednesday Oct. 1, 2008, at Copenhagen University in Copenhagen.
Italian architect Renzo Piano during a ceremony Wednesday Oct. 1, 2008, at Copenhagen University in Copenhagen.   (AP Photo/Polfoto, Thorkild Amdi)
the Art Institute of Chicago's modern wing
the Art Institute of Chicago's modern wing   (©Andrew Ciscel)
Piano has described the canopy over the museum's new modern wing as a 'flying carpet.'
Piano has described the canopy over the museum's new modern wing as a 'flying carpet.'   (©Ben B Miller)
An atrium at the new modern wing of the Art Institute of Chicago, designed by Renzo Paino.
An atrium at the new modern wing of the Art Institute of Chicago, designed by Renzo Paino.   (©Ben B Miller)
A gallery displaying works by German painter Gerhard Richter.
A gallery displaying works by German painter Gerhard Richter.   (©Ben B Miller)
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Most of all, the addition manages to weave the various strands of Chicago’s rich architectural history into a cohesive vision, one that is made more beautiful by its remarkable fragility. - Nicolai Ouroussof

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3 comments
VIEWING:
 
Observer
May 15, 09 9:35 AM CDT
What happens to the art inside when a tornado hits this flimsy glass shell? Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
AS1280
May 15, 09 12:19 PM CDT
Ha ha yeah because there are SO many tornadoes in downtown Chicago. And skyscrapers aren't exactly made of brick.
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+3
BrittanyM
May 15, 09 12:17 PM CDT
I am so excited to go - the addition looks fabulous! Reply
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