Last week, I had the opportunity to go to Chicago, my favorite city in the US! I did lots of exciting things, and as always, had a beer or two. I was able to go on the Half Acre brewery tour, which was fun and informative, if a little crowded. 
After waiting in the 38 degree winds for about 45 minutes, tickets were distributed and we were on our way indoors! The tour participants were each able to receive three full pints of beer while we learned about Half Acre’s history and the brewing and canning process. I tried their Akari Shogun, an American wheat; Pony, a tasty pilsner; and Ghost Parade, a delicious porter that was my favorite for the day. 
Half Acre started life as a contract brewery 7 years ago before opening their own brewing facility and Tap Room on Lincoln Avenue. Now they are getting set to expand to a bigger facility! While their beers aren’t available in Saint Louis, I hope they’ll consider expanding to our market sometime soon.
After waiting in the 38 degree winds for about 45 minutes, tickets were distributed and we were on our way indoors! The tour participants were each able to receive three full pints of beer while we learned about Half Acre’s history and the brewing and canning process. I tried their Akari Shogun, an American wheat; Pony, a tasty pilsner; and Ghost Parade, a delicious porter that was my favorite for the day. Half Acre started life as a contract brewery 7 years ago before opening their own brewing facility and Tap Room on Lincoln Avenue. Now they are getting set to expand to a bigger facility! While their beers aren’t available in Saint Louis, I hope they’ll consider expanding to our market sometime soon.
The title of this post comes from Nelson Algren’s Chicago: City on the Make, an essay originally published in 1951. Ten years after that, construction began on my favorite buildings in Chicago, the buildings that sparked my initial interest in architecture: Marina City.
You may know of them- many films shot in Chicago, from Ferris Buller’s Day Off *to *The Dark Knight feature shots of these iconic “corncobs,” but hopefully today you’ll learn a few more fun tidbits about these mixed-use apartments. Construction on these 65-story buildings began in 1961, with the hope that they would be completed by September of 1962. By September of 1961, crews were completing one entire floor per day.
Planning began in 1959, led by architect Bertrand Goldberg, who would go on to design even more rounded structures in the city of Chicago. The complex would include the two apartment buildings and their garage levels, a small marina for personal boats located under the street level, a theater (which became the Chicago House of Blues in 1996), and an office building which now houses a hotel, a bowling alley, and a few restaurants.
Of his innovative, rounded design, Goldberg said the following: “I also feel that there is a terrible need to get people out of boxes… It should be the relation of the branch to the tree, rather than the cell to the honeycomb.”
Of his innovative, rounded design, Goldberg said the following: “I also feel that there is a terrible need to get people out of boxes… It should be the relation of the branch to the tree, rather than the cell to the honeycomb.”
Marina City was the subject of an exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago from late 2011 to early 2012.
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