Poetry Magazine Celebrates Its New Home
The Poetry Foundation’s building at Dearborn and Superior is one of only three in the country dedicated to verse.
A rendering of Poetry's new home at Dearborn and Superior Streets
Chicago architect John RonanLike a poet staring at a blank piece of paper, John Ronan had virtually nothing to start with when designing the Poetry Foundation’s new headquarters at Dearborn and Superior Streets, set to open June 25. “There aren’t buildings designed directly for poetry,” says the Chicago-based architect. “So the fun of it is, it’s more about questions than answers: What is a building for poetry?”
If the project was unique, so was its history: After nearly a century of bohemian existence, in 2002 Poetry magazine received a bequest in excess of $100 million from the pharmaceutical heiress Ruth Lilly, which paved the way for a first-of-its-kind writing center. Ronan, 47, a fan of the poets Seamus Heaney and Rainer Maria Rilke, was hired in 2007 after an international search.
As executed, the 22,000-square-foot, $21.5 million building looks simple on the surface but has a layered materiality that invites exploration—the same way a well-crafted poem works on the reader. “It’s not something that screams at you,” Ronan says. “This is a building, not a poem. We didn’t want to start writing poetry into the façade. We wanted to arrange the materials and spaces analogously to how a poet arranges words—to help you see something you didn’t see before.” One such arrangement is an open-air grove of deciduous trees that Ronan wrapped in the building’s glass-and-black-zinc exterior walls. The landscape creates a haven apart from the city that surrounds it, and the garden of trees, moss, and rocks then becomes one of the building’s centerpieces, visible from the library, offices, and the performance space.
Positioning the performance space in view of the trees is a deft stroke of simplicity, but the space itself required meticulous planning. While large enough to seat 125, the room has to accommodate whisper-quiet poets without electronic amplification. To accomplish this, Ronan attended to everything from the space’s dimensions to the forms and materials of the walls,ceiling, and chairs.
“Pick the wrong chairs and they’re going to be squeaking during readings,” says the architect, who is known for carefully arranging details. At the five-year-old Gary Comer Youth Center in the Grand Crossing neighborhood, Ronan designed an exterior that is a riot of brightly colored rectilinear panels. The panels signal a vibrant energy within the building—in contrast to its dreary surroundings—and they’re easily replaced in the event of graffiti or vandalism. At Christ the King Jesuit College Prep, a Ronan design in the Austin neighborhood, the chapel features a crucifix made of steel cables, and the acoustic walls are lined with crucifix-shaped cutouts.
Inside the Poetry Foundation’s center, a serene two-story library stocks a unique 35,000-volume collection that dates back to nearly 1912, when the Chicago writer Harriet Monroe founded a magazine for verse. But for all the poetry contained in the building, there’s little fanfare out front—no signage until visitors wind their way to the garden threshold, where “Poetry Foundation” is spelled out on a stone step.
The aim, Ronan says, was to create a building “that has poetic qualities, like subtlety. It’s not giving it all away in one shot—which has become de rigueur in architecture now, [where] it’s so about getting in design magazines and having this photogenic icon.” —Dennis Rodkin
One of only three structures in the country dedicated to verse, the new Poetry Foundation building will house a performance space, a public garden, and a library. Through book launches, a reading series, and youth outreach, the foundation hopes to draw as wide an audience as possible—and, in doing so, to challenge the perception that poetry is a marginal art form. “In the first edition of Poetry magazine, published in October 1912, Harriet Monroe imagined it would be a place for poetry as an art form to have a space of its own, like dance or theatre. What this building really does is fulfill that vision,” says John Barr, the foundation’s president. The move will be marked by a two-day celebration on June 25 and 26. Free and open to the public, the event will feature Elizabeth Alexander, best known for writing President Obama’s 2009 inauguration poem; Sandra Cisneros, author of the Latino coming-of-age novel The House on Mango Street; and the Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Hass. For information about the opening and other events, go to poetryfoundation.org. —Paula Carter
Rendering: Courtesy of John Ronan Architects; Photograph: Chris Strong
This article appears in the July 2011 issue of Chicago magazine.
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Hello my is Rufus Calvin Henderson I am a christan writer. Although I do not in Chicago, I am a fan of this magazine. And would love to become a member. Poetry is my life, through my poems I want to inspirer. Let me know what you think of this poem. Than let others read tell me what they think of the poem. Thank you hope to hear from you soon....
IF ONLY TEARS CAN TELL WHAT WORDS CAN’T SAY
There is nothing like feeling so frustrated to the point you just want to give up. You see others around you prosper while you continue to struggle. It’s like someone gasping for their last breathe thinking life has ended.
Even as you begin to lower your head and eyes begin to tear up. You swallow hard choking back a sob. Because the pressure of trying to be the best person you can be gets hard at times. Never understanding how close you are to achieving your goals. Your break through is near.
Yet why listen to others, the ones who procrastinate and never finish what they started. Always having excuses meanwhile trying to tell you why you should not pursue what you love the most. Let your tears be the fuel that burns inside your soul. Be the inspiration that drives you to success when others want you to fail.
Know that when the tears stop streaming down your face, there is no one or nothing that will hinder you from achieving your goal. Sometimes you just have to dry your face, lift your head up and focus. It takes more than just saying what you are going to do. Even in our mistakes we must be strong and know that through God’s grace and belief in yourself you still can make it right.
Take comfort in knowing that success comes from the ones who endure. Regardless of your shortcoming, trials, and tribulations choose to live life to the fullest. Take charge in how you live your life, always put God first and meet every challenge that comes your way with faith.
Most want a resolution but many choose not to be a part of the solution. No matter what, we must learn to let go and let God have His way. Put your pride aside knowing you have a higher calling and remember life goes on. You might shed some tears but God will always love you even through your pain.
By R. Calvin Henderson
As I embrace my faith
As I embrace my faith, I understand that no matter what you
Do in life it all goes through thru Christ.
Even in my short comings, out of my comfort zone, God grants
Me the wisdom to know right from wrong.
When I feel alone there is a presence that is with me.
Holds me close as God grant me the ability to express myself.
As I embrace my faith, I am starting to understand there is a
Higher purpose when it comes to my faith.
In the mist of my adversity and circumstance, no matter how I feel,
God is that constant presence. I can always trust in Him
And know that He will strengthen me.
BY R. Calvin Henderson
ACCOUNTABLE
There I was thinking how I got into to this mess,
Knowing that, we as Individual we must be accountable. How we live our
Life,
So why let our children think it is ok to act any kind of way these days.
Thinking they can get away with anything they do.
Especially when they are in the wrong, cussing and fussing with
Older elderly people just aren’t right.
When you say something to them they look at you funny.
Being accountable about understanding that whatever you do
Right or wrong comes back to you.
So while you are behind bars remember you are just a number
As parents we must take some accountability in how our children
Act.
How can you raise your children when you act the same way.
Accountability should start at home.
Teaching our children how to respect and love one enother
It is important to be accountable, so that our children might grow up
Acting that way they should.
As we look into the mirror, we should teach our children
To be a reflection of us.
BY R. CALVIN HENDERSON
Hello my is Rufus Calvin Henderson I am a christan writer. Although I do not in Chicago, I am a fan of this magazine. And would love to become a member. Poetry is my life, through my poems I want to inspirer. Let me know what you think of this poem. Than let others read tell me what they think of the poem. Thank you hope to hear from you soon....
IF ONLY TEARS CAN TELL WHAT WORDS CAN’T SAY
There is nothing like feeling so frustrated to the point you just want to give up. You see others around you prosper while you continue to struggle. It’s like someone gasping for their last breathe thinking life has ended.
Even as you begin to lower your head and eyes begin to tear up. You swallow hard choking back a sob. Because the pressure of trying to be the best person you can be gets hard at times. Never understanding how close you are to achieving your goals. Your break through is near.
Yet why listen to others, the ones who procrastinate and never finish what they started. Always having excuses meanwhile trying to tell you why you should not pursue what you love the most. Let your tears be the fuel that burns inside your soul. Be the inspiration that drives you to success when others want you to fail.
Know that when the tears stop streaming down your face, there is no one or nothing that will hinder you from achieving your goal. Sometimes you just have to dry your face, lift your head up and focus. It takes more than just saying what you are going to do. Even in our mistakes we must be strong and know that through God’s grace and belief in yourself you still can make it right.
Take comfort in knowing that success comes from the ones who endure. Regardless of your shortcoming, trials, and tribulations choose to live life to the fullest. Take charge in how you live your life, always put God first and meet every challenge that comes your way with faith.
Most want a resolution but many choose not to be a part of the solution. No matter what, we must learn to let go and let God have His way. Put your pride aside knowing you have a higher calling and remember life goes on. You might shed some tears but God will always love you even through your pain.
By R. Calvin Henderson
As I embrace my faith
As I embrace my faith, I understand that no matter what you
Do in life it all goes through thru Christ.
Even in my short comings, out of my comfort zone, God grants
Me the wisdom to know right from wrong.
When I feel alone there is a presence that is with me.
Holds me close as God grant me the ability to express myself.
As I embrace my faith, I am starting to understand there is a
Higher purpose when it comes to my faith.
In the mist of my adversity and circumstance, no matter how I feel,
God is that constant presence. I can always trust in Him
And know that He will strengthen me.
BY R. Calvin Henderson
ACCOUNTABLE
There I was thinking how I got into to this mess,
Knowing that, we as Individual we must be accountable. How we live our
Life,
So why let our children think it is ok to act any kind of way these days.
Thinking they can get away with anything they do.
Especially when they are in the wrong, cussing and fussing with
Older elderly people just aren’t right.
When you say something to them they look at you funny.
Being accountable about understanding that whatever you do
Right or wrong comes back to you.
So while you are behind bars remember you are just a number
As parents we must take some accountability in how our children
Act.
How can you raise your children when you act the same way.
Accountability should start at home.
Teaching our children how to respect and love one enother
It is important to be accountable, so that our children might grow up
Acting that way they should.
As we look into the mirror, we should teach our children
To be a reflection of us.
BY R. CALVIN HENDERSON