Bertrand Goldberg's Hospital Designs

Prentice Women's Hospital in Chicago, a modernist concrete building designed by Bertrand Goldberg, is in danger of being demolished. I love these modernist buildings from the 70's - many architects do - but I think their charm is lost on the average person. You don't see such exuberant use of concrete today, and these buildings exhibit a celebration of the promise of the future that is typical of the era. Anyone interested in joining the fight to save Prentice Women's Hospital can visit the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

In a recent article by Michael Kimmelman of the New York Times, Kimmelman asked architect Jeanne Gang to come up with a proposal to save the building. Gang's proposal to build a new tower on top of the old building would be an exciting addition to Chicago's skyline - you can see a rendering of the design at Curbed Chicago.

Closer to my home on Long Island, I've always loved Stony Brook University Hospital's building on the campus of Stony Brook University - another of Bertrand Goldberg's buildings. (I am so far the only one who shares this view...) When viewed from Nicolls or Sheep Pasture Roads, it seems to loom above the landscape like a spaceship that has just landed. It has a crazy floor plan of interlocking circles and I've heard that the large floor-to-ceiling oval windows actually operate (scary!).