University Unveils Design for Arts Center, Area Landmark

By Lindsey Miller in News on Nov 12, 2009 10:40PM

Look out Obama's house and Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie house, there's a new landmark coming to in Hyde Park, and it's sure to dwarf the competition.

University of Chicago has settled on the design for an 11-story, multi-million dollar creative and performing arts building on the south side of campus that it plans to build along the Midway Plaisance at 60th and Ingleside. Tod Williams and Billie Tsien Architects unveiled the design on Tuesday. It features a tower flanked by smaller buildings, all in glass and stone. ArchDaily says "the simplicity of the materials (stone and glass) give the building a contemporary yet ageless look, a building that will stand over time, not just a fad."

The university plans to break ground on the Reva and David Logan Center for Creative and Performing Arts in May 2010 and open by spring of 2012. The center has already been 10 years in the making; back in 1999, the Campus Master Plan proposed that a creative and performing arts center be built.

Now fully planned, the Logan Arts Center will add 170,000 square feet to the school's and community's art space, with studios, rehearsal space, theaters, screening rooms, all topped by a Performance Penthouse on the highest floor that will feature tall ceilings and a view of the city from the Midway Plaisance never before seen from 11 stories up. At least not since the 264-foot Ferris Wheel inhabited the area during the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893.