Photo: Jason Little Made of equal parts melted plastic and childhood memories, genuine Mold-A-Rama figurines—the locally conceived tchotchkes molded, on the spot, to simple perfection in machines reminiscent of the space age at various museums and attractions around town—stand alone as the most collectible way to wax nostalgic. Reasons there are no better souvenirs on … Read more
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Jeanne Gang’s most important work is woven into the fabric of the city.
Illustration: Hawk Krall Wacker. Cermak. Pulaski. Hoyne. Gunnison. Lunt. They sound like fists hitting meat.
Photos: (JORDAN) Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune; (WINFREY) Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times; (OBAMA) Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune What’s great about Chicago for me, being black and from the South Side? It’s knowing that Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Michael Jordan—the triumvirate of modern black icons—spent their formative years here. Knowing that our streets and people and restaurants … Read more
Photo: trippchicago/Flickr Chicago wrote an autobiography and called it the wood back porch. The city’s long history in the lumber industry explains the use of wood, and its even longer history of trying to keep people safe from fires—specifically a building ordinance requiring a second exit in every household—explains the porches’ ubiquity. Wood porches doubling … Read more
Photo: Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune Waterfalls, azaleas, and burbling streams—this park-within-a-park near the lakefront in Woodlawn is my own urban Shangri-la. Situated on Wooded Island—which, along with the adjacent Museum of Science and Industry, is one of the few remaining vestiges of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition—the garden exudes pristine tranquility, with prim gravel paths that … Read more
