ludwig mies van der rohe – DesignApplause

mies van der rohe partner joe fujikawa mid-century home recently sells.

Aug 12, 2022

chicago architect joesph (joe) fujikawa‘s home recently sold. this news was startling because i was in this house a long time ago. joe was my second client in my own newly formed business in the late 70s, my first client being chicago mayor michael (j) daley. joe, asked me to create an identity and an award for the world trade council in chicago. there i met the president of the association, robert s ingersoll. mr. ingersoll was chairman and chief executive of the chicago-based borg-warner corporation as well as former ambassador to japan. this began an enormous run of commercial real estate projects. and i picked up mentors in joe and jerry (johnson).

i asked joe if he loved art. he said, “ron i love it ! i just don’t have a place to hang it.”

fujikawa was a californian who studied architecture at illinois institute of technology in the 1940s and 1950s under ludwig mies van der rohe and then worked in mies’ chicago firm, becoming a partner.

after mies’ death in 1969, fujikawa was a partner in the successor firm, fujikawa conterato lohan associates. in the 1980s, fujikawa founded a new firm, fujikawa johnson. fujikawa contributed to mies’ crown hall at illinois tech and other buildings, and his later firm designed the chicago mercantile exchange on wacker drive, the metcalfe federal building in the loop and one illinois center, among others.

along with his wife, grace, and two children, fujikawa lived in hyde park until building this house around 1971, his son, steve fujikawa, told crain’s before putting the house on the market in october. the architect died in 2004, and grace fujikawa died in 2016.

steve fujikawa told crain’s that when the family moved in, he was in high school and didn’t quite apprehend that the house was anything special compared to the colonials and other traditional-looking homes in the neighborhood. he grew convinced when his friends at new trier township high school, about six blocks south, “always told me i lived in the coolest house.”

the house is the latest in a series of midcentury suburban homes to sell quickly this year. among the others are houses in riverwoods, indian head park and chicago heights.

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381 fairview avenue, winnetka, il 60093
$765,000
modernist trophy in east winnetka. brilliant architectural design and engineering by noted mies van der rohe associate joseph fujikawa built as his own private residence. open floor plan that is terrific for entertaining or peaceful enjoyment. metal floating stairs are reminiscent of mies’ arts club stairs, one of chicago’s famed design icons. large continuous balcony off bedrooms that overlook tiered garden and private backyard. built-in cabinetry, terrazzo floors and more.

john ronan architects blends function and sustainability into forward-thinking iit innovation center.

Jan 15, 2021

“the kaplan institute at iit is an academic building that combines functionality and sustainability into an elegant design solution, all while working within rigorous financial constraints in a setting with tremendous architectural standards.” – jury comment: 2020 aia national honor award in architecture

DesignApplause asks notable chicago architect john ronan for a project steeped in sustainability and we are pointed to the ed kaplan family institute for innovation and tech entrepreneurship. a 2020 winner of the prestigious aia national honor award in architecture. the 2020 architecture program celebrates the best contemporary architecture regardless of budget, size, style, or type. these stunning projects show the world the range of outstanding work architects create and highlight the many ways buildings and spaces can improve our lives.

[ tremendous architectural standards ] to his credit, ronan has won very competitive commissions but this one was extra special if you consider who the client was: illinois institute of technology in chicago, a campus largely designed by ludwig mies van der rohe, the greatest concentration of mies-designed buildings in the world. subsequent buildings decades later by helmut jahn, faia, and rem koolhaas, hon. faia. the school asks one of its professors who’s been at iit since 1992, just a year after is graduation from harvard. tremendous indeed.

[ architect project statement ] the ed kaplan family institute for innovation and tech entrepreneurship at the illinois institute of technology is devoted to fostering collaboration, innovation, and entrepreneurship between iit’s students, faculty, alumni and partners. conceived as a hybrid of campus space and building, the building is organized around two open-air courtyards through which visitors enter the building; circulation inside the building is indirect and dispersed, designed to promote collaboration and interaction. the building provides flexibly adaptive space which can be reconfigured easily and support a wide variety of uses.

the design of the innovation center is forward-thinking in its approach to sustainability. the second floor of the building, which cantilevers over the ground floor to provide sun shading, is enclosed in a dynamic façade of etfe foil cushions which can vary the amount of solar energy entering the building through sophisticated pneumatics. the etfe foil is 1% the weight of glass and gives the building a light, cloud-like appearance.

[ images: john ronan architects ]

[ storm water detention ] the building’s two exterior courtyards double as storm-water detention tanks. rain water is directed from the roof surface to gutters at the perimeter of each courtyard from which it enters the gravel floor of the courtyard via rain chains. several feet of crushed rock below the courtyard serve as large rainwater storage cisterns, where water is held before being released slowly to the municipal sewer system; a portion of the rain water is retained onsite.

[ dynamic etfe facade ] the façade is comprised of four layers of etfe foil which create three air chambers within the façade assembly. the two outer layers of etfe are fritted with a staggered dot patterns which are offset from each other; the inner layer can be moved back and forth pneumatically, bringing it together and apart with the outer fritted layer to modulate the amount of incoming solar energy. this movement is achieved by introducing air into one chamber and removing it from the adjacent chamber, which relocates the fritted inner layer. when the inner layer is pressed together against the fritted outer layer, the dot patterns overlap to reduce light transmittance. when the inner layer is moved away from the outer layer, it increases light transmittance. controlled via automated building system controls or overridden manually, the dynamic façade can adapt throughout the day to changing weather and daylight conditions in real time to minimize energy usage and maximize daylighting potential.

the dynamic etfe facade varies the amount of solar energy entering the building through sophisticated pneumatics.

[ john ronan architects ]

Chicago Architect Joseph Y Fujikawa, 81.

Jan 30, 2004

joseph (joe)) fujikawa, 81, died december 31, 2003, at his winnetka home.

joseph fujikawa, born 1922 in los angeles, was an american architect who worked with ludwig mies van der rohe and took over his office after mies died.

his architecture was heavily influenced by his teacher and boss. his associates would say joe wanted to be more like mies than mies himself.

he began his studies of architecture in 1940 at the university of southern california and finished his undergraduate degree at the illinois institute of technology in 1944.

he also did a master’s degree under mies van der rohe at iit. in 1944 fujikawa started his architectural career in the office of mies van der rohe. in 1976, some years after mies’s death, the name of the firm was changed to fujikawa, conterato, lohan & associates. in 1982 fujikawa joined gerald (jerry) johnson and founded fujikawa johnson & associates.

fujikawa’s was forced to relocate to a colorado internment camp during his junior year of college led him to iit. he said, “i was there for about three months until i was admitted to iit. i applied because i heard mies was director, and i knew mies only by reputation from a book called the international style. the barcelona pavilion of mies’s was in there. that really impressed me.” mies said, “ja, come,” and fujikawa remained devoted to the miesian vocabulary for all his life.

survivors include his wife, grace; his daughter, elizabeth; his son, stephen; two sisters, aster ikezoye and mary nakatsu; and a brother, john fujikawa.

[ notable buildings ]
55 east erie, chicago
the buckingham, 360 east randolph, chicago
chicago mercantile exchange, 20 south wacker drive, chicago above > chicago mercantile exchange | 1987
columbus plaza, chicago
fairmont hotel, 200 north columbus drive, chicago
metcalfe federal building, 77 west jackson boulevard, chicago
north harbor tower, 175 north harbor drive, chicago
three illinois center, 303 east wacker drive, chicago
mutual benefit life building, chicago
two illinois center, chicago

fujikawa conterato lohan: formerly the office of mies van der rohe, was my second client in my own newly formed business. the first being chicago mayor michael (j) daley. i was asked by joe to create an identity and an award (above) for the world trade association in chicago. there i met the president of the association, robert s ingersoll. mr. ingersoll was chairman and chief executive of the chicago-based borg-warner corporation as well as former ambassador to japan. this began a great run of commercial real estate projects for my business. and i picked up mentors in both joe and jerry.