Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/835995
"THE TRUEST TEST OF GOOD DESIGN IS HOW IT LOOKS IN THE WINTER." —douglas hoerr clockwise from here: The Garden Terrace of Morningstar's office in the Loop; Hoerr Schaudt's beloved flower-filled planters on the Mag Mile; North Park University Campus on the city's north side. PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT SHIGLEY (GARDEN TERRACE, CAMPUS); STEVEN GIERKE (MICHIGAN AVENUE) 116 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM specific to the Midwest. "The truest test of good design is how it looks in the winter," observes Hoerr. "That's a lesson that has worked for me in different parts of the country, even though there's not always the four seasons." Elevated ecology: In 2003, Apple became the first private sector company in Chicago with a green rooftop after tapping Hoerr to design its Michigan Avenue space—but only after the firm convinced the late Steve Jobs of its impor - tance. "[I told him], 'if a guy like you, Steve, who's the architect of the 21st century, doesn't lead by example environmentally and design- wise, then what hope do we have?'" Apple later commis - sioned Hoerr Schaudt for its Lincoln Park outpost in 2010. Gridiron greening: Hoerr singles out Peter Schaudt's beautifying of Soldier Field as a favorite project by his one-time "friendly competitor," whose 2003 redesign of the stadium's perimeter includes a verdant Children's Park and 17 acres of lakefront greenery. "It showed [the importance of] worrying about the aesthetics—not just the architectural aesthet- ics, but the context of the greater site—so it's not just acres of parking lot," commends Hoerr. The future of landscape: From amenitized rooftops to fleshed-out riverbanks, Hoerr forecasts a growing embrace of previously overlooked spaces and "actually sinking your teeth into areas that at one time weren't even considered important." . SPACE GREEN