Lee’s World
Illinois and Wisconsin
In October 2008, I flew back across the Atlantic to spend a few days in Illinois and Wisconsin before joining Mark in California.
I stayed on the edge of Chicago in Elk Grove Village which proved a great base - close to the city, the airport, and ideal for driving north to Wisconsin.
When we in Chicago in 2007, we planned to head up to Milwaukee, WI, but didn't make it - this trip remedied that.
Day One, and I'm up and out early. A tour of Illinois Institute of Technology, which boasts the largest collection of Mies van der Rohe buildings in the World. Mies was head of architecture at IIT and was instrumental in the design of the campus in South Chicago. Crown Hall was worth the visit alone.
Afterwards, it was on the road through South Chicago,
past the home of Barak Obama to visit Frank Lloyd Wright designed homes in
Elmhurst, Riverside and Lagrange. The small
city of Elmhurst also boasted the one of the few Mies van der Rohe homes in
the US - having visited the Farnsworth House in the past, I had high hopes.
Sadly they were dashed as what was left
of
the house had been absorbed into the wing of a museum and was now a very
cluttered office space.
Day Two, and it's off to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. "Why?"
many friends asked. Well, it was to visit the only building designed by
Santiago Calatrava in the USA - the Milwaukee Art Museum. And what a space!
The roof has wings which flap (for want of a better word) during the day.
After the museum, it was off to view a couple of Frank
Lloyd Wright buildings in the neighbourhood, before heading down to Racine
for a tour of Wingspread, the
largest house that he designed. The house is now an educational conference
centre, having been designed for the Johnson family. Following
a
brief history of the house, I had free rein to wander around - an unmissable
and unexpected opportunity. You don't get many chances like that.
Then it was back down to Chicago, and a flight to Palm Springs to join Mark.