“From the musical structure of the blues, belonging to the culture of the city of Chicago, we took the concept of ‘tension and release,’ compression and spatial suspension. Thanks to the height of the 3.60 meter ceilings, we were able to imagine a narrative scheme that orchestrates episodes of great breadth and varying temperature, focusing on the input of the visual axes in a seamless dialogue with the city,” say Massimo Alvisi and Junko Kirimoto, whose background includes work with Renzo Piano and Massimiliano Fuksas, in a linguistic approach that mixes their different origins – occident and orient – with skillfully gauged proportions and touches of poetic handiwork.
The entrance zone makes the two environmental geographies of the interior immediately perceptible, juxtaposed with the central block of the building that contains the elevators, physical plant systems and services, against the backdrop of the continuous glazing: on one side, the reception area, on the other the ‘playroom.’
The reception zone leads to the more interactive functions placed along the southern facade: the meeting room, winter garden, exhibition spaces and restaurant, while the back, facing north, becomes the setting for the playroom, the private offices and other communal areas.