515 North State Street in Chicago is a modernist skyscraper by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange, who won the Pritzker Prize in 1987. Built in 1990 as the American Medical Association Building, it blends contemporary styles of its time, traditional influences and minimalist lines in an architecture Tange described as ‘basic forms, spaces and appearances’ arranged in a ‘logical’ way, uniting technology and humanity. Now, the 20th-century building, one of the city’s prized landmarks, has a fresh addition to its main lobby: a design-led, sleek new Chicago coffee cart courtesy of architecture studio Norman Kelley with architect and educator Spencer McNeil.
A Chicago coffee cart's minimalist architecture
The project, simply named ‘Cart’, was conceived as a retail cart to offer locally roasted coffee and a seasonally inspired takeaway menu on the ground floor of the 29-storey office building, which is owned by an affiliate of Beacon Capital Partners. ‘In keeping with Tange’s architectural legacy, Cart is an abstraction of a traditional form,’ says the design team. Just like the surrounding lobby (a minimalist mix of stainless steel and polished granite), the new structure is a composition of sleek, stainless steel geometric shapes.
The cart – at 5m long, 2m wide and 3.4m tall – draws on a stationary yatai cart, a mobile food stall dating back to 17th-century Japan. Offering a modern twist on the historical typology, which traditionally had two wheels, this particular cart sits on six stainless-steel cylinders.
The stainless steel refrigeration equipment (four refrigerators, one cooler) and an array of jatoba wood shelves are arranged on top of this base. An open ceiling structure featuring a four-sided continuous LED ribbon completes the design, crowning it with a dynamic banner, which can be paired with a nearby 7m tall media wall, to display stills, text or moving image for passers-by.
‘Although Cart is stationary, its abstracted metallic form is designed to imbue the lobby and adjacent public plaza with the image of movement,’ say Kelley and McNeil.
-
Brunello Cucinelli’s festive takeover of Harrods turns the department store into a cashmere wonderlandUnveiled this morning, the Umbrian fashion house has taken over the store’s iconic Brompton Road windows, celebrating the spirit of its home town of Solomeo in fantastical fashion
-
Each mundane object tells a story at Pace’s tribute to the everydayIn a group exhibition, ‘Monument to the Unimportant’, artists give the seemingly insignificant – from discarded clothes to weeds in cracks – a longer look
-
Discover The Legacy, Hong Kong’s eye-catching new condoThe Legacy, by ACPV Architects Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, is a striking new condo tower that aims to ‘create a sense of community and solidarity among people’
-
The Stahl House – an icon of mid-century modernism – is for sale in Los AngelesAfter 65 years in the hands of the same family, the home, also known as Case Study House #22, has been listed for $25 million
-
Houston's Ismaili Centre is the most dazzling new building in America. Here's a look insideLondon-based architect Farshid Moussavi designed a new building open to all – and in the process, has created a gleaming new monument
-
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fountainhead will be opened to the public for the first timeThe home, a defining example of the architect’s vision for American design, has been acquired by the Mississippi Museum of Art, which will open it to the public, giving visitors the chance to experience Frank Lloyd Wright’s genius firsthand
-
Clad in terracotta, these new Williamsburg homes blend loft living and an organic feelThe Williamsburg homes inside 103 Grand Street, designed by Brooklyn-based architects Of Possible, bring together elegant interiors and dramatic outdoor space in a slick, stacked volume
-
This ethereal Miami residence sprouted out of a wild, jungle-like gardenA Miami couple tapped local firm Brillhart Architecture to design them a house that merged Florida vernacular, Paul Rudolph and 'too many plants to count’
-
Tour Cano House, a Los Angeles home like no other, full of colour and quirkCano House is a case study for tranquil city living, cantilevering cleverly over a steep site in LA’s Mount Washington and fusing California modernism with contemporary flair
-
An ocean-facing Montauk house is 'a coming-of-age, a celebration, a lair'A Montauk house on Hither Hills, designed by Hampton architects Oza Sabbeth, is wrapped in timber and connects its residents with the ocean
-
With a freshly expanded arts centre at Dartmouth College, Snøhetta brings levity to the Ivy LeagueThe revamped Hopkins Center for the Arts – a prototype for the Met Opera house in New York –has unveiled its gleaming new update
