the chicago architecture biennial is in full swing. this means lots of site specific works, special shows and TOURS!
speaking of tours, sc johnson is offering free ones of their campus in conjunction with the biennial. OF COURSE i signed up asap cause you cannot go frank lloyd wrong when you're standing in a frank lloyd wright building. (did i make that joke when i went to price tower? prob.(lol, i did. of course.))
anyway, last saturday, we burned through some of the biennial exhibits at the cultural center before catching a glimpse of kerry james marshall's mural (in progress) in garland court
on the way to the bus to racine. seriously. how can all of this be gratis? (it is tho. no catch.)
it takes about two hours to get to racine from chicago. on the way, we passed the tollway oasis where we stopped on our move out here and also that cheese cave near six flags where we didn't. fun fact: i had not left chicago city limits since arriving here in june of 2016!
you know the real draw of the sc johnson wax campus, right? hell yes, the interior of the admin building! here is a sanctioned photo of the interior cause photos aren't allowed inside. you just juuuuust see some of those beautiful columns in this pic. that space was just SO wonderful. i wish i hadn't left.
the reflecting fountains mirror (reflect? haaaa :/) the columns in the admin building what with the tapered base and all. i love them.
i also love the tower. am i weird in liking flwright's towers slightly more than his prairie houses? (yes)
again, no interior pics were allowed. the most interesting part of the tower is the fact that you can't see out of it due to the leaky, glass rods. (wright found racine to be ugly and thought views of the city would spoil his buildings. (all frank lloyd wright buildings leak.))
another big name architect is on the sc johnson campus. yes! that is norman foster! as far as i can tell, fortaleza hall was built to house a replica plane (i mean, fine. whatever.) but what i like most about it is how the curves mimic those in the wright buildings.
oh! and also the living wall complete with waterfall. (a much better photo of the living wall since, again, no interior photos were allowed.)
hey, protip here-- if you are booking the tour through the biennial, try to do it on the weekend as another wright building is included then! yes! we got to go to wingspread! (i kept calling it wingull bwahah (it is not a good spot for pokemon, in case you were wondering. 😂))
anyway, wingspread is now a convention center.
we wandered around the grounds waiting on the tour before us to clear out. really quite nice!
and, guess what! INTERIOR PHOTOS WERE ALLOWED!!! FINALLY!!
the light in this place is to die for. i could have taken a nap here.
back outside
it's just so well landscaped. i'd like to throw a party here.
oh! on the second floor in the left hand wing, there was a weird framed paper bathing suit. these used to be handed out to guests who had forgotten theirs. (the pool was under construction at the time of our visit.)
it was nice to be able to wander on our own at wingspread after being on rails on the campus. very peaceful and a great way to end the tour.
one last tip--on the way up, a pit stop for lunch at oh danish bakery is included. (you *do* have to pay for your lunch but, hey, that's fair.) pick up a kringle or FOUR. they're delicious. (we got cream cheese and cherry.)
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