This is a cool slice of Old Skool from 1980. And I'd like to hear Michael McDonald take a run at this too.
Hot City
YouTube video by Shadow - Topic
music.youtube.com
Lee Bey
@leebey1.bsky.social
Chicago Sun-Times architecture critic and formerly ABC7 Chicago. Author/photographer of Southern Exposure: The Overlooked Architecture of Chicago's South Side. I dig vintage TV/movies and 20th century funk, soul and jazz.
After you read this wonderful profile, make plans to come celebrate with Mati at the Ridge Historical Society on the evening of September 11th. If you haven't already grabbed your copy of his fantastic new book, you can get one there. See you soon!
Chicago Tribune@chicagotribune.com · 3d agoPhotographer Mati Maldre’s new book gives the Southwest Side neighborhoods their architectural due.
Been waiting to get my hands on this book. Can't wait to dig in. Mati is the man.
A bit of architecture today. (Wrote this before taking the month off.)
PHOTOS: Loop's iconic weather bell back in action
The Bell Federal Savings sign didn't work for years, but that's now changed as restoration work recently wrapped up.
chicago.suntimes.com
My architecture column today. "What we now see of the 857-foot tall glass building is what we’ll get. Crews are now building out the interior and surrounding grounds." BTW: I'm taking a month off to work on some stuff. My column will return in September.
One down, one to go: Exterior construction wraps up at the first of two towers at 400 N. Lake Shore
The site was best known for its 75-foot deep crater, left when the 2,000-foot tall Santiago Calatrava-designed Chicago Spire project went belly up in 2008.
chicago.suntimes.com
My architecture column today. "Built in 1973, St. Mark AME Zion Church is one of the finest works of pioneering Black architect Wendell Campbell’s distinguished 50-year career."
National Trust grant provides preservation hope for modernist East Chicago church
The $150,000 award will help St. Mark A.M.E. Zion Church's congregation create a plan to preserve the unique 53-year-old structure designed by the late Black Chicago architect Wendell Campbell.
chicago.suntimes.com
Today's architecture column on Trinity UCC's Imani Village senior residences. "The latter years of your life, you need to be comfortable. You need to be in a nice surroundings," Imani Village Executive Vice President Patricia Eggleston said. "And so that’s why we decided that we wanted to build it."
Imani Village brings senior housing with style to Cottage Grove Avenue
Built by the South Side's progressive Trinity United Church of Christ and designed by architectural firm Johnson & Lee, the five-story building wakes up the street with a dash of color and a bit of ve...
chicago.suntimes.com
In my recent column on the Bell Federal weather sign getting a big refresh, the developer said the device -- which also forecast the weather -- had a manual control in the building's basement. Here's the control, courtesy of a source of mine who took this pic while visiting the building this week.
My column today. "Is the Chicago Park District starting to get its act together and do right by its architectural treasures? Two current projects give me some hope."
A Victorian bandstand gets ready for an encore while Jackson Park’s golden lady gets new clothes
Is the Chicago Park District starting to get its act together and do right by its architectural treasures? Two current projects give our architecture critic some hope.
chicago.suntimes.com
Hotel Florence, 11111 S. Forrestville in the Pullman neighborhood yesterday. Designed by Solon S. Beman, built in 1881.
Cat Stevens/Yusef Islam's birthday is today. Much respect to all the music he's created -- especially this 1977 electro jam.
Cat Stevens ~ Was Dog a Doughnut 1977 Disco Purrfection Version
YouTube video by DJDiscoCat
youtube.com
At the OPC with library commissioner Chris Brown and OPC branch librarian Marcus Lumpkin to sign a copy of Southern Exposure for the Obama Presidential Reading Room. Chris said the branch gets 3000 daily visits -- almost as much as the Washington Library gets. I can see how. It's pretty packed now.
I'm looking forward to being in conversation Aug 5 with my good friend, the talented Dawn Turner, about her new book, Majestic Hills. We'll be at Call & Response Books, 1390 E. Hyde Park Blvd. Come on through!
"Some people say Casablanca or Citizen Kane. I say Jason and the Argonauts is the greatest film ever made." Tom Hanks, 1992.
Canadian Smoke. Sounds like the name of a band that woulda played an all-ages show at the Cabaret Metro in 1984.
There’s poop on the lettuce. There’s worms in the beef. There’s glass in the bread. What kind of Upton Sinclair timeline is this
Tomorrow's architecture column today: The Frank Gehry desk in the Inland Steel Building fetches $243,000 at auction today.
7 tons and whaddya get? A quarter of a million for a Frank Gehry desk
Icehenge, the 7-ton glass desk designed by the late architect Frank Gehry sold at auction for $243,200.
chicago.suntimes.com
Today's column: Downtown's old Bell Federal Savings sign that once told the time and temp, but also featured a lighted, acrylic bell that changed color to alert passersby of coming weather conditions, is being renovated and put back into use.
Iconic Loop weather bell to shine again after years in the dark
"It's an icon for the city," said Gary Stoltz of R2 Companies, which is redeveloping the Rector Building where the sign is located. "Everybody who's spent time in the Loop, walking through the Loop, r...
chicago.suntimes.com
My architecture column earned props today from my Sun-Times colleague Neil Steinberg. Much obliged, Neil!
Neil Steinberg@neilsteinberg.bsky.social · last mo.My blog post today: www.everygoddamnday.com/2026/07/etym...
I talked abt the Frank Gehry desk this morning on CBS 2 Chicago.
Iconic 16-piece glass desk at Inland Steel building up for auction
A 7-ton glass desk designed by Frank Gehry is up for auction.
cbsnews.com
For some additional context from yesterday's coverage of the Thornton Reservoir being full. Here's a drone image taken on February of this year from my colleague Anthony Vazquez next to mine shot yesterday.
Today's architecture column. The work is expected to fetch between $100,000 and $200,000 at auction.
A Loop glass desk designed by Frank Gehry — all 7 tons of it — heads to auction
Called Icehenge, the 16-piece desk is located in the lobby of the iconic Inland Steel Building, one of the late architect's favorite structures.
chicago.suntimes.com
My architecture column today. "Bowen alum Andy Davis, director of the 1993 movie The Fugitive remembers the school's architectural details -- and that the building wasn’t always in the best condition. 'We all felt the pigeon droppings had something to do with keeping it together,' he said."
Bowen High — Schurz High School's overlooked architectural doppelgänger — gets recognized at last
State officials have asked the National Park Service to put the Dwight Perkins-designed South Chicago school on the National Register of Historic Places.
chicago.suntimes.com
When you're looking through the Presidential Reading Room at the OPC to see if you've read any book the Obamas recommend (there were a bunch!) and you see @leebey1.bsky.social's book, Southern Exposure, prominently on display 🙌🏼
The Railway Children, A Pleasure. 1988. When I was in my early 20s, this is the kind of stuff WXRT would play when I was cruising home at night on Lake Shore Drive. My whole life ahead of me.
The Railway Children - A Pleasure
YouTube video by juvan baldeo
youtube.com
Today's architecture column. "By The Hand Club For Kids’ $24 million renovation would revive an often overlooked building that was designed by noted architects then became the birthplace of the environmental justice movement."
Altgeld Gardens' 'Up Top' building to return to tip-top shape as an after-school center
By The Hand Club For Kids' renovation would revive an often overlooked building that was designed by noted architects then became the birthplace of the environmental justice movement.
chicago.suntimes.com
My architecture column today (what a busy week on the beat.) A state advisory council will vote today on a measure to make all of the city's courtyard-style residential buildings -- there are thousands of them -- eligible for National Register consideration.
Could Chicago's stock of courtyard buildings wind up on the National Register of Historic Places?
A state advisory council will vote on a measure to make all of the city's courtyard-style residential buildings eligible for National Register consideration.
chicago.suntimes.com
My architecture column today. A non-profit steps in to save the ramshackle Frank Lloyd Wright-designed J.J. Walser House in the Austin neighborhood. "We’re really excited about the possibilities," Austin Coming Together Executive Director Darnell Shields said.
Neglected Frank Lloyd Wright house on the West Side sold for $125,000
The nonprofit community group Austin Coming Together bought the vacant Wright-designed J.J. Walser Jr. House and seeks to restore the building.
chicago.suntimes.com