By the winter of 2019 I was crashing out in architecture.. I had taken all 6 of the architecture exams and failed most of them twice… back-to-back! I have some choice words about the ills of standardized testing and how such an exam is actually preventing new and brilliant minds from becoming architects, deterring them to leave the field entirely into other design spaces.. ultimately doing more harm then good, since it is designed to make you fail, not grow as an architect..

In any case I needed a break, and it was the winter which I love. I wanted to be cold, feel the warmth of a cafe and work on some poems (which later became Fundaments). I decided to make an architecture pilgrimage to the Old Great American City - Chicago.

I say old, because in the modern day it has a lot of problems, and maybe it always has actually. In the history of the US though Chicago was the original Great City, even before my love NYC (which was considered more an immigrant and production city). Do to intense corruption and poor practices the city burned down three times, which ultimately lead to its fall from grace. The World Fair in 1893 really established it as a global metropolis. Later it would be the grounds where architects developed the first skyscraper, air conditioning, and elevators.

I am in debt to the revolutionary works of Frank Lloyd Wright who debuted and grew out of this fertile architectural ground. His buildings were my main temple to visit.

Overall though the city was very pleasant. I enjoyed all the flavor in each of the neighborhoods that had their own character. Strolling around I even found accidentally the Puerto Rican neighborhood Humboldt Park which was very nice (and had great food!). Getting around without a car was easy enough. What I really enjoyed about Chicago is the standard regular architecture is even incredible. Their base level has been so refined over ages of great architects that it is just permanently elevated, or at least that’s how it felt.

I was fortunate enough to make it to several projects by Wright including his home/studio and the Robie house, which was one of the first uses of steel in a residential building. What is so impressive with Wright is his totality in design. Nothing goes un-noticed, nothing is left to circumstance or left out. Even the trim around doors (which people never really talk about) had a scale relative to that room. Tables themselves and furniture designed to emphasize the house. Lights, entrances, empty space. It really is fantastic, and at the same time he lived in an era where all those things needed to be custom fabricated. Unlike today where automation and mass production has flipped the equation, custom building everything is extremely expensive, and using products from companies is very cheap in comparison.

As with everything nice, there is always some amount of naughtiness. Chicago had quite a lot. Even my great ally Wright had some very poor behavior and lifestyle moments. He abandoned his wife and children to pursue architecture and other women quite young. Which made me think how we can hold so strong on our principles of integrity, honesty, democracy (Wright’s) yet in our personal life they fall through. It affirmed in me that I need to live an integral life where my personal affairs are as aligned as my artistic affairs. And it there are things I do that are consider socially taboo to own them and stand on business as they say these days - not to deny or try to be ashamed of them.

There was also a very deep racial undertone (maybe even overtones..) throughout the city unfortunately. I was meeting up with some friends of friends of a college buddy who grew up there, some went to my university but others as well and they shared a club for me to meet them. When I arrived the bouncer asked me if I knew anyone there, and what kind of party it was. He even tried to charge me a $20 cover lol! I didn’t understand what all this was about and messaged my friend who was still in transit. The bouncer ended up letting me for free (it was a free party after all) and I got inside to a very nice spot with great tunes. When my buddy arrived I shared the encounter and he opined it was because I look white and was probably not welcomed by default in that kind of space, being a mostly POC crowd, unless I knew someone. Which really blew my mind a bit. In NYC there are definitely different spaces for different folks, but to basically get checked for it at the door was something I had never gone through. On top of that, hearing so much of the stereotypes about the south side where he was from I was confused because everyone joining the party had more college education then my entire family. Everyone at the club was very respectful and nice, I never had a moment of feeling as an outcast or being looked at as ‘that guy’. I asked how all this could exist, yet at the same time so much iniquity. He said simply ‘It’s all fun and games, until it’s not.'

I do want to visit Chicago during the summer which I hear is fantastic. Culturally it is basically the biggest city in the midwest, so it has some southern values (strange to me I always associate the south with the SE, not the middle) which I am not a fan of. I did really enjoy the food scene and variety in the city. The fashion and clothing was super nice as well and people generally had their own sense of style and energy.

What I went for though was perfect. I found a local cafe near my Airbnb and would spend morning there woking on my poetry. It felt really good to have a ‘go-to’ and start feeling like a local even though I was just visiting. This is my favorite way to travel, never as a tourist or visitor.. but more a short-term local. Well, as much as that is possible lol.