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OMA & KOO @ UIC
The competition-winning design by OMA – Office for Metropolitan Architecture and KOO LLC for the University of Illinois at Chicago's Center for the Arts consists of two towers and some performance spaces beneath a tent-like roof. Credit:World-Architects.com
Curio Collection’s 100th property opens on Chicago’s Navy Pier
Sable at Navy Pier, which marks the 100th property milestone for Curio Collection by Hilton, has opened in Chicago. Developed and operated by Maverick Hotels & Restaurants, with an ownership group led by Acron AG, it is the first hotel to break ground on one of...
Design Conversations: Jackie Koo Takes Us Behind the Scenes at Navy Pier’s First Hotel
As Navy Pier, the iconic Chicago landmark gets revamped with a hotel of its own, Newcity sits down with Jackie Koo, founding principal of architecture, interior design and urban planning firm, KOO, for a glimpse at the design process. “Creating a design that could be...
KOO-designed SURGE esports arena gets the go-ahead for Chicago’s South Side
Chicago’s City Council has greenlit a $30 million proposed esports and virtual reality arena for a site along South Wabash Avenue that’s just a stone’s throw from McCormick Place, the largest convention center in North America, in the South Side neighborhood of...
What’s That Building? The Altgeld Family Resource Center
A new vibrant and environmentally positive building represents the type of sustainability that some Altgeld Gardens residents like Hazel Johnson fought for. Credit: WBEZCHICAGO
A New Community Center for Chicago’s South Side
The Altgeld Family Resource Center, designed by KOO Architects, folds a wealth of uses into one distinctive interior. Credit:Architect Magazine
KOO Completes Design of Sable at Navy Pier
The latest Curio Collection hotel embraces local history and the appeal of its waterfront location Hilton has expanded its Curio Collection with the opening of Sable at Navy Pier in Chicago. Locally based architecture and design firm KOO spearheaded design for the...
Sable Hotel opens on Navy Pier
On a beautiful July day back in 2018, anticipation was high as the crowd sipped champagne, listened to speeches and applauded the ground breaking on the Sable Hotel--the first hotel on Navy Pier.. Little did any of us know what was lurking in the future. But through...
Rehabilitation & Revival: KOO Design Leads Chicago’s Public Housing Architectural Renaissance
Built by the Chicago Department of Housing and Urban Development in the mid-forties for Black soldiers returning home from service in World War II, Altgeld Gardens is known for being one of the first public housing developments in the United States. It’s also...
Chicago to Receive an E-Sports Arena, and Other News
Chicago unveils plans for a funhouse-like e-sports arena on the city’s Near South Side. In a sign of the perpetually growing popularity of gaming, Chicago has unveiled designs for a $30 million,106,000-square-foot professional e-sports arena called Surge. Designed by...
Column: 10 ways architecture may change Chicago in 2021, the Year of the Question Mark
Writing an architecture and urban design preview for 2021 is an exercise in guesswork. With vaccine distribution in its initial stages and city centers still largely shut down, firm opening dates are hard to come by. Call it the Year of the Question Mark. Downtowns...
Column: Chicagoans of the Year in architecture: The team that helped revive old Cook County Hospital
The rebirth of old Cook County Hospital, which once had a near-death experience, would have been worth celebrating in any year. But it took on special meaning in 2020, as doctors, nurses and other health care workers battled the deadly coronavirus. Beautifully remade...
2020 LANDMARKS ILLINOIS RICHARD H. DRIEHAUS FOUNDATION PRESERVATION AWARD FOR ADAPTIVE USE
A pillar of the Illinois Medical District on Chicago’s Near West Side, and a monument to the vital role that public hospitals play in providing medical care to all those in need, the Old Cook County Hospital has at long last been given a second life. Built in...
KOO selected for INVEST South/West Pre-Qualified List of Design Services Firms
KOO was selected from 200 applicants! This summer the City of Chicago invited the Chicago Architecture Center to organize an open Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to identify Chicago design firms to be considered for upcoming projects connected to Mayor Lori E....
Beaux Arts Beauty
Hospitality and healthcare have always been intertwined—now more so than ever—as both industries exist to serve and care for others. The Hyatt Place and Hyatt House Chicago Medical/University District opened this summer in the Beaux-Arts classical-style landmark that...
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55 W. Wacker Dr.
Suite 600C
Chicago, IL 60601