Arts Club of Chicago Proposal, Interior Perspective Collage

Following a passionate, yet unsuccessful campaign to save the Arts Club of Chicago’s 1951 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe interior from demolition, Chicago architects were invited to submit proposals for a new, stand-alone building for the club. Ronald Krueck and John Vinci were chosen as finalists out of more than 40 submissions, amid a storm of press coverage. Veteran preservation architect Vinci chose to incorporate the proportions and detailing of the earlier interior, including Mies’ original steel and travertine staircase. Although Krueck chose a more contemporary approach, his second-place entry can also be seen as an important homage to Mies. With collage elements of artwork superimposed on an abstract representation of his steel and glass structure, this presentation drawing echoes the technique and innovative spatial relationships of Mies’ photocollages for the Museum for a Small City project (1941–42).