LIKE A CUT DIAMOND, KRUECK AND SEXTON ARCHITECTS' SPERTUS INSTITUTE OF JEWISH STUDIES IS SEAMLESSLY INTO CHICAGO'S DOWNTOWN STREET WALL

摘要

Like the imposing towers lining the edges of New York's Central Park, the street wall of historic skyscrapers fronting on Chicago's Grant Park exist as built topography—a man-made cliff of stone and brick that includes such seminal structures as Adler & Sullivan's robust Auditorium Building. Now, with the completion of the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies by Chicago architects Ron Krueck and Mark Sexton, this mighty street wall—a mile and a half long—has made a dazzling leap into the 21st century. The 10-story building resembles a shimmering piece of quartz exquisitely inserted into a great stone wall, its faceted, folded facade of glass glinting in the morning sun.