1522 Dearborn’s modern extension features a towering array of angled glass and steel, ascending to one of the most unique rooftop decks in the city. This innovative work by Krueck + Sexton — dubbed Victorian Townhouse Extended — is an early and extraordinary example of Deconstructivism. Now one of the most celebrated architectural styles in the world, Deconstructivist Architecture was in its early stages at the time of the home’s construction.
Architectural Model of 1522 Dearborn, Krueck+Sexton.
In 1982, only three years before the completion of 1522 Dearborn, French-Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi brought Deconstructivism to the public eye with his winning entry at the Parc de la Villette architectural competition in Paris. The rear addition of 1522 shares many of playful characteristics of Tschumi’s groundbreaking work.
Parc de la Villette, Bernard Tschumi 1982.
Three years after Krueck+Sexton finished construction at 1522 Dearborn, the Museum of Modern Art in New York held a show entitled Deconstructivist Architecture, featuring other pioneers of the architectural style including Bernard Tschumi, Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, Daniel Libeskind, Peter Eisenman. The gathering of these architects under roof was the first major public celebration of the Deconstructivist attitude. Here’s a detailed and in-depth look of the MoMa exhibition in book format.
The projects in this exhibition mark a different sensibility, one in which the dream of pure form has been disturbed. It is the ability to disturb our thinking about form that makes these projects deconstructive” — Phillip Johnson and Mark Wigley, MoMA Deconstructivist Architecture.
Remove the Essence of Architecture
Early pioneers of Deconstructivism aimed to replace right angles and square logic with innovative and audacious forms. No longer would architecture depend on the cube as a primary, essential building block. Practitioners of Deconstructivism used expressive, novel elements to create lively structures that dismantled previous assumptions about architecture. Deconstructivist buildings can feel at once harmonic and natural as well as dissonant and other-worldly.
The Deconstructivist approach reshaped the architectural landscape and led to some of the most iconic and award-winning buildings in the world. Here are just a few celebrated examples…
Walt Disney Concert Hall, Frank Gehry.
Jay Pritzker Pavillion, Frank Gehry.
Port Offices of Antwerp, Zaha Hadid.
Jewish Museum Berlin, Daniel Libeskind.
Seattle Central Library, Rem Koolhaas.
Imperial War Museum North, Daniel Libeskind.
1522 Dearborn has its place in the lineage of Deconstructivist residences, especially within the rich architectural landscape of Chicago. The current resident, an alumna of the famed architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has carefully maintained and preserved this landmark achievement of residential architecture.
“One of the few examples of Deconstructivism in Chicago, this addition is a wild paroxysm of clashing angles, planes, colours and forms. Starting with hints of fragmentation in the interior, the house explodes into the alleyway in a flash of blue, gold, and pink glass, battered/warped aluminum and mirrored curling stairways. A spectacular, dizzying sight!”
— Chicago, A Guide to Recent Architecture