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Architects Say Poor Economy Having an Impact on Building Design
Produced by Lynette Kalsnes on Tuesday, November 18, 2008
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The old Field building on LaSalle Street is an Art Deco gem that got built during the Great Depression. Photo by Bob Thall. |
Chicago’s a city known for its architecture. And it seems to be constantly changing and growing. But what’s striking now, is how much the skyline’s staying the same, thanks to the slowdown in the economy. Some projects are delayed, and even canceled. But some architects say bad times could have an impact on building design.
You ever hear the sound of nothing?
ambi: sound of Spire site
This is the sound of nothing much going on at a construction site. There’s the hum of traffic, and a welder who’s fixing a fence. But then, what you don’t hear are the pounding and clanking sounds of heavy construction. That’s because work on the Chicago Spire has slowed to a virtual halt.
Someday, the twisting skyscraper by Santiago Calatrava is supposed to rise over the skyline. But now, it’s basically a concrete hole in the ground. The developer’s announced it’s going to stay that way until the economy improves.
That decision is becoming common.
BAKER: What you generally see during a downturn is a lot more caution in terms of projects that are undertaken. You see less speculative projects undertaken. When the economy is strong, a lot of times, it’s sort of the build it, and they will come.
Kermit Baker is chief economist with the American Institute of Architects. Baker says developers may delay new construction a few years and retrofit older buildings instead.
BAKER: I fear that you’re going to see less interesting, less creative designs out in the marketplace now. I think we’re going to see more big-box looks, if you will, something that serves the purpose, doesn’t inspire people much and isn’t something that's terribly memorable.
That could be the case, but there are interesting exceptions if you look back in history.
ambi building tour: We’re standing in front of the entrance to the former Field building, one of the great Art Deco skyscrapers of Chicago.
Tim Samuelson is the city’s cultural historian. The entrance to the old Field building is three stories high, and it’s made of granite panels, edged with limestone.
ambi tour sound: Shall we go inside? Let’s go inside.
Samuelson moves into the lobby. The marble walls glow under indirect light from brushed metal fixtures.
SAMUELSON: It’s almost tempting when you see something like this to think of those 1930s musicals. Because here, this tall space, with flying balconies going across it and grand staircases, you can almost imagine these kind of sequined chorus girls dancing down the staircase and on the balconies.
The rich materials and Art Deco details aren’t the only stunners. What’s really surprising is the Field building got built during the Great Depression. In fact, it was the only skyscraper built downtown for more than 20 years.
SAMUELSON: They knew that all of the people who built buildings and supplied the materials would be dying to get on this job. Because quite frankly, if you were going to work in construction in downtown Chicago, if you weren’t working on the Field building, you weren’t working.
He says the Field estate built this gem for a bargain basement price of about $12 million.
SAMUELSON: The Depression probably made the building even better. Because they were able to get the best of everything.
The old Field building isn’t the lone example of good design coming out of bad times. Samuelson points to the Century of Progress Exposition in the 1930s. Then there’s the art and architecture coming out of the Works Progress Administration.
SAMUELSON: It’s hard to tell what’s going to happen in dire economic circumstances, and it makes for a difficult time for all. To say there’s something great gonna to come out of it, well, that’s a little hard. But, there is sometimes a byproduct of difficult times, where out of kind of improvisation and making do, creativity will often come to the fore.
Chicago architects say something similar is happening on a limited scale now.
Joe Valerio is a founding partner at Valerio Dewalt Train Associates. He says every architect in the city’s seeing projects slowed down or on hold. But there’s also something unexpected occurring.
VALERIO: We’re sitting in meetings now, and people are saying, well, what can we put into the project, that we didn’t think we could afford before.
Demand is down, so prices for commodities like steel are falling.
VALERIO: That's a very surprising outcome that is the sort of silver lining of this downturn.
Clients who haven’t had to delay their projects are asking to upgrade them. They want more durable finishes, like terrazzo instead of vinyl floors.
These aren’t huge changes. But some of them will affect how a building looks.
Valerio says one client’s replacing the glass on a 1970's era office building, and had opted for tinted glass. But now, the client can afford clear glass that’s better at blocking out the sun. So workers can look out on blue skies, instead of gray.
VALERIO: Buildings with dark, tinted glass tend to be this Darth Vader appearance. It’s really black. Well, this really will knock that feeling back, it will feel much more like an open glassy building.
Another likely impact, is fewer condos.
Jim Goettsch, president of Goettsch Partners, thinks we’ll see rental buildings instead. He says investors who have the money can get more for it. Those who don’t, well, he doesn’t expect them to cut corners to get a skyscraper done.
GOETTSCH: There’s a certain substance those buildings have to have just because of their size, and there’s a limit to how cheap you can make something and still make it stand up.
Neither architect expects huge changes in design. Joe Valerio says it took events like the Great Depression and World War II to usher in modernism.
VALERIO: The buildings that were being built, the way they looked before the Civil War, changed completely after the Civil War. It takes that kind of disaster to create really a revolutionary shift in design. So hopefully, this isn’t going to be that bad, OK? (Laughs.)
Valerio says he hopes the slowdown isn’t long term. The projects getting done might be of a higher quality. But there won’t be as many of them. And he says everyone’s in trouble, if the nation doesn’t get back to building again.
I’m Lynette Kalsnes, Chicago Public Radio.
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