A. Conroy Photography, who was in dire need of a Facelift, and HoneyDukes Academy. Both designs were fun to create, and colloborate with.

Please check out both their websites!

A.Conroy Photography:

www.abbiconroy.com

HoneyDukes Academy:

http://www.wix.com/conroyinhome/childcare#!about

Welcome back everyone! I just got back from an exhilarating trip with my lonesome to Chicago, IL. Let me just start things off by saying this; if you have not had the opportunity to explore a city solely on your own, do it as soon as possible. And, if you are even so inclined to do so, make it Chicago. I know you’re thinking that for me it’s a biased choice since I went to Architecture School, and you may be right. BUT! It is truly one of most exhilarating, beautiful, intriguing, and well crafted cities in the United States. I won’t bore you with the details in text, so I’ll just post some photos that I took along the way with some quick notes.

(1) The View from the apartment in Lincoln Park       (2) This awesome pizza place, DIY, Home Made

(3) Night time view from my balcony                              (4) Omelet from Nookie’s Dinner

(5) Lincoln Park Apple Store, Phenomenal Architecture (6) View around scenic Lincoln Park, Chicago, IL

(7) The Red Line                                                                    (8) Sculpture in Old City, Chicago, IL

(9) Old City, chicago, IL                                                     (10) Poppyseed Pancakes at Nookie’s Dinner

(11) Frank Gehry Pavillion at Millenium Park             (12) Frank Gehry Pavillion at Millenium Park

(13) N. Michigan Apple Store                                            (14) N. Michigan Apple Store

(15) Big Marilyn Monroe Sculpture                                 (16) Aqua Tower, (this is the number one building I                                                                                                                                                       wanted to see while in Chicago)

(17) Cloud Gate Sculpture, Millenium Park                   (18) Typical Cloud Gate picture

(19) Up and early for the sunrise                                      (20) A 3D model of Downtown Chicago

(21) Monadnock Building                                                  (22) Interior of the Monadnock Building

(23) Intelligentsia Coffee (some of the best)                 (24) One of the ferries on the river

(25) The Marina City Towers (always a beauty)          (26) The Sears Tower (always a majestic building)

(27) Had to get a souvenir                                                  (28) Back to the same studio view. Checking Stats.

So, I have discovered this wonderful website called fab.com.  On there, they offer sales and deals on a whole bunch of really cool stuff. Additionally, there’s even a section for inspiration! On there you have the ability to narrow down certain topics, which then present images and products pertaining to the selected topics.  I digress, but at any rate I found this picture of the Manchester Civil Justice Center located in Manchester, England and it was done by Architects Denton Corker Marshall.

So, I immediately looked them up. And to my surprise, I knew I had stumbled across them and their work before.  This building according to their website is “An international competition-winning design for the headquarters of the Ministry of Justice in the North West of England, the biggest court complex to be built in the UK since the Royal Courts of Justice in London.”  Additionally it is said to be one of the most sustainable buildings.

It’s no surprise that this building plagues my interest, i’m a huge fan of pushing limits (i.e. cantilevers, concrete forms etc). Its forms kind of remind me of the Bill Clinton Library. Similar execution on the cantilevered form.  At any rate, the biggest feat on this building is the western side of the building and its 120,000 sq. ft. suspended glass wall, which is the largest in Europe.

A Few More Images:

[thank you archdaily.com for images]