Chicago Public Radio - Arts

Blue Monday for Some in Indiana

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

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There may be many long faces in Indianapolis today over the Colts losing the Super Bowl.

But there aren’t as many in Northwest Indiana.

Chicago's Poles are Returning Home

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

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There are Polish neighborhoods on Chicago’s Northwest Side where stores are empty of customers, or even closed down. But merchants and priests here say they’re being hit by a double whammy – the weak economy and Poles returning home.

Lyric Opera Responds to Recession

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

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The recession's hitting the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Colts Invading Bears Country

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

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Football season maybe over with in Chicago but not so three hours south of the city in Indianapolis. The Colts will be playing for the AFC Championship this Sunday against the New York Jets. There used to be a time when you had to drive almost two hours south of Chicago before running into Colts fans. But not anymore. The Colts are making a play not only for another Super Bowl but for fans in Northwest Indiana, usually the Bears den.

Chicago Has Bragging Rights to World's Tallest Building

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

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Some Chicago architects watched with pride as the world's tallest building opened in Dubai today.

When the Burj Dubai opened amid fireworks today, engineers and architects in Chicago gathered around a TV and computer screens to watch. They're some of the people at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill who helped design the building.

The senior structural engineer, James Pawlikowski, says he was awestruck.

PAWLIKOWSKI: It really is one of these once-in-a-career-type buildings. It's going to be some time before a project like this comes along again -- I hope another one will come to us sooner rather than later. But just personally it's been so nice to be able to work on something like this and learn as much as I have learned and be able to say that I have contributed.

He expects it will take a while to top it - it's about 27-hundred and 17 feet tall. That's more than a thousand feet taller than the next highest building.

It was renamed the Burj Khalifa after the president of the United Arab Emirates.

Chicago Architects' Influence on World's Tallest Building

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

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Yo-Yo Ma Joins Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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Renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma will join the Chicago Symphony Orchestra next month as a creative consultant.

BBC Newshour Live from WBEZ

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We pre-empt the 3 p.m. hour of All Things Considered for a live broadcast of BBC Newshour. It is part of the BBC Climate Connections Team’s coverage of the global climate change issue and the Copenhagen talks. Chicago is the only city in North America that the BBC has chosen to report from as part of the coverage. Robin Lustig hosts.

Related:
Al Gore Talks Climate Change on Eight Forty-Eight

Is Design the Third Teacher in Schools?

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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A new push to change schools and education is coming from an unlikely source. It’s not teachers, parents, or students. It’s coming from architects and designers. They hope to start a movement to rethink the design of schools and schoolyards, to improve teaching and learning.

Preservationists Still Trying to Save Gropius Buildings

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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Preservationists are making another attempt to save the Michael Reese Hospital on Chicago's South Side.

Only a handful of the buildings that famed Bauhaus architect Walter Gropius helped design are still standing. Four have fallen to the wrecking ball.

Preservationists are heading to Springfield today to ask the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council to agree the campus is of historic significance. That's a big step toward listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Grahm Balkany heads the Gropius in Chicago Coalition.

BALKANY: No one's trying to confuse the point that a lot of demolition has occurred at this site, and there's no question that the site was you could say more historic before the city of Chicago commenced its cruel campaign to rid this area of all history and beauty whatsoever.

Balkany says there's still a core of important historic buildings.

A listing on the National Register could mean tax credits for redevelopment. But it wouldn't make the city stop demolition.