December 14, 2008
Sullivan Center cited in Best Architecture of 2008
Chicago Tribune
Extracted from article by Blair Kamin

It was a year of spectacular highs and lows for architecture. New landmarks took shape in the hands of rising stars while old landmarks, from the recent past as well as the far past, were expertly restored.

Louis Sullivan storefronts: After the destruction of so much of Sullivan's legacy, it was great news to hear that architects T. "Gunny" Harboe and Douglas Gilbert had discovered a "lost" Sullivan storefront during their restoration of three adjoining Loop storefronts on South Wabash Avenue. Now being re-installed, the brown cast-iron storefront at 22 South Wabash Avenue features Sullivan's nature-inspired, geometric ornament, and contrasts beautifully with another Sullivan-designed cream-colored storefront to the north.

Among other notable events were National Stadium, centerpiece of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and National Aquatics Center, the marvelously translucent Water Cube, which resembled an oversize box of bubbles.

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