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Events
Future
Prentice
Competition Winners
Exhibit Opens Nov 16
Chicago Modern More than Mies series, Spring 2012 highlights
New Website
Chicago Modern: More Than Mies
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Prentice Women’s
Hospital
333 E. Superior St., Chicago
(Cook County)
This Bertrand Goldberg-designed building has been vacant
since September, 2011. Ownership has reverted from
Northwestern Memorial Hospital to Northwestern
University, which wants to demolish it and land-bank the
property until it can finance a new medical research
facility. This concrete, clover leaf-shaped structure,
which was built in 1975, is representative of Goldberg’s
organic architectural designs and is highly adaptable
for reuse due to an open floor-plate structural system.
After Prentice was included on last year’s endangered
list Landmarks Illinois commissioned studies of three
possible reuses for the building. The University,
however, has claimed none are feasible for its needs.
Prentice was considered groundbreaking for its
cutting-edge architecture, advanced engineering and its
progressive design approach to organizing medical
departments and services. It received international
press coverage and an award from Engineering News
Record for its innovative tower and open floor-plate
layout that eliminated the need for structural support
columns. “You will not find the structural solution to
Prentice, which is an exterior shell cantilevered off a
core, anywhere else in the world” notes Geoffrey
Goldberg, an architect and Bertrand Goldberg’s son.
“Prentice was the only one in which this was achieved.”
When Northwestern Memorial Hospital first announced its
plans to build a new Prentice Women’s Hospital
preservation organizations immediately began voicing
concern about the future of the Goldberg-designed
building. Prentice was on Landmarks Illinois’ 2005-06
Chicagoland Watch List and this is its fourth
listing on the statewide endangered list. Preservation
Chicago has also included it on its Chicago 7
list for a second time this year. The National Trust for
Historic Preservation placed it on its nationwide “11
Most Endangered Historic Places” list. In 2010 the
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency determined the
building is eligible for listing in the National
Register of Historic Places.
In partnership with Preservation Chicago, DoCoMoMo
(Documentation and Conservation of the Modern Movement),
and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a
coalition has been formed to advocate for the
preservation of this irreplaceable Modern building.
What You Can Do
Write a letter to encourage local
landmark designation and to work with Northwestern
University to reuse the building.
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Mr. Rafael
Leon, Chairman
Commission on Chicago Landmarks
c/o Chicago Department of Housing and Economic
Development
33 N. LaSalle St., Suite 1600
Chicago, IL 60602 |
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Mayor
Rahm Emanuel
Office of the Mayor
City Hall
City of Chicago
121 N. LaSalle St.
Chicago, IL 60602 |
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Alderman Brendan Reilly
Office of the 42nd Ward
325 W. Huron, Suite 510
Chicago IL, 60654
Ph 312.642.4242
Fax 312.642.0420
office@ward42chicago.com |
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Join the Save Prentice Facebook page at
SavePrentice.org. |
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Sign Landmark old Prentice Hospital Petition. |
Additional Links
Letters
of Support
Press
Links
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Healthcare Communication News, July 26, 2011 |
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Sun-Times, June 29, 2011 |
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Chicago Sun-Times, May 29, 2011 |
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Chicago Tribune, May 25, 2011 |
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The Chicago Architecture Blog, May 25, 2011 |
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Hello Beautiful, May 16, 2011 |
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Architect’s Newspaper, April 20, 2011 |
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New York Times, April 16, 2011
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Skyline, April 13, 2011 |
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Chicago Tribune, April 4, 2011 |
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Chicago Tribune, March 26, 2011 |
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Curbed Chicago, March 14, 2011 |
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Architect’s Newspaper, March 3, 2011 |
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