Gordon Parks Art Hall
Architect: Valerio Dewalt Train Associates & FGM Architects
Installer: Alliance Glazing Technologies
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Certificate: LEED Silver
The VS1 system was used as the exterior glass facade for this extraordinary building. The geometry of the glass surface is one of the most complex in the world but was readily solved by the VS1 system. Multiple fold lines, planar transitions, sloping walls and angular variations that had almost no 90 degree angles all had to be accommodated coupled with span variations between 10ft and 28ft; various depth mullions were utilized ranging from 5” to 10” deep. A dramatic entrance canopy folds in front of the inner wall at the east end of the building. A-framed end walls create “glass crystals” visually calling out to the gothic neighbors of this architectural masterpiece.
At the request of George Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson, who gave $25 million to the project, the building is named after Gordon Parks, an American photographer, film director, and social justice advocate. Parks was an alumnus of University of Chicago: he enrolled in 1929 at the age of 17. He is best known for his photography featuring poor Americans in the 1940s, and he was also the first black director of major motion pictures in the United States.
