No wood. No clutter. Everything white. Oh, and completely soundproof. These were some of the program requirements Alexander Gorlin, FAIA, received from his client, Robert Pollack, when he took on the project of designing a Chicago townhouse for him. “I waited a long time to have an architect design my house,” says the real-estate tax consultant and musician, “and when you wait that long, it has to have everything you want.” For Pollack, who had the deed for never-built-upon 125’-by-125’ lot in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood—a residential neighborhood of conventional detached townhouses—the goal was to live in an environment that eschewed everything he had grown up with—his parents are American Folk Art dealers who always had a lot of “stuff” around. “We had old firewood from George Washington’s time,” he says. “I wanted the opposite of that. And I wanted a house where nobody could ever tell me to turn down the music.”
You have 0 complimentary articles remaining.
Unlimited access + premium benefits for as low as $1.99/month.