Alliance Francaise de Chicago

Project Info

Categories

Community

Location

Chicago, IL

Size

17,000 sf

SERVICES PROVIDED

programming, architecture, interior design

SPECIAL RECOGNITION

American Institute of Architects, Institute Honor Award for Interior Architecture;
American Institute of Architects, Chicago Chapter, Interior Architecture Citation of Merit;
Society of American Registered Architects, Design Award of Merit;
Chicago Athenaeum, American Architecture Awards Exhibition

KEY PERSONNEL

Avram Lothan

Description

Physical space constraints challenged the growth of the Alliance’s program offerings. The client wanted to reuse existing buildings in a cost-effective manner yet desired to make a bold statement about the contemporary value of French culture.

LVDA founder Avram Lothan designed the renovation of a former bank and a link to the cultural center’s adjacent, existing three-story greystone building. The former bank building required all new construction within a turn-of-the-century shell. The biggest design statement in the project is the link, a steel structure with a clear, fritted glass envelope that recalls the Maison de Verre in the way the prismatic structure energizes the courtyard in which it is placed.
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