Merchandise Mart Chicago

 The Merchandise Mart (or the Merch Mart, or the Mart) is a commercial building located in Chicago along the river. When it was opened in 1930, it was the largest building in the whole world with 4 million square feet (372,000 m²) of floor space.  The structure is located at the junction of the Chicago River branches. The building is a leading retail and wholesale location.  Neocon is the event that I have focused on for my later interior design and architectural career. 

Chicago River painted view

 Chicago river painted view during Neocon event at the #merchandisemart #neocon #chicago #dougwittnebel #illustration #painting #concepts #conceptsapp #conceptsapparchitect

Herman Miller installation Neocon 51 years

View looking south on the Chicago River. Dark red steel Drawbridges and dark green waters

Chicago River and bridges Quick sketch from Kimball building stage 1

Chicago River and Marina City View in the morning fog light

Painted view of the Chicago River with Marina City towers

Four selections for illustrations of Neocon 2018 features

Fog and drizzle and the Wrigley Building

FOG

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

"Fog" is a poem by Carl Sandburg. It first appeared in Sandburg's first mainstream collection of poems, Chicago Poems, published in 1916.

Sandburg has described the genesis of the poem. At a time when he was carrying a book of Japanese Haiku, he went to interview a juvenile court judge, and he had cut through Grant Park and saw the fog over Chicago harbor. He had certainly seen many fogs before, but this time he had to wait forty minutes for the judge, and he only had a piece of newsprint handy, so he decided to create an "American Haiku”

... and ...

From my hotel window I painted and marveled at the fog and drizzle over the Chicago River and above the magnificent Wrigley building. 

Chicago in the wet summer fog.

Chicago in a wet June mood

Chicago sketch Looking down on the new Apple store and Michigan Avenue Dusable Bridge and Chicago River

Chicago and the river, Tribune Tower, Michigan Avenue, Walker Drive, painted view from the 11th floor of the London House hotel ... annotated version for viewing pleasure ...

Chicago and the river, Tribune Tower, Michigan Avenue, Walker Drive, painted view from the 11th floor of the London House hotel ...

The buildings of Chicago always thrill me...

Starting with the Wrigley building... a simple line drawing and then adding more to the scene below...

Carl Sandburg wrote this poem about the city...

CHICAGO

     HOG Butcher for the World,

     Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,

     Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;

     Stormy, husky, brawling,

     City of the Big Shoulders:

They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I

     have seen your painted women under the gas lamps

     luring the farm boys.

And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it

     is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to

     kill again.

And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the

     faces of women and children I have seen the marks

     of wanton hunger.

And having answered so I turn once more to those who

     sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer

     and say to them:

Come and show me another city with lifted head singing

     so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.

Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on

     job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the

     little soft cities;

Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning

     as a savage pitted against the wilderness,

          Bareheaded,

          Shoveling,

          Wrecking,

          Planning,

          Building, breaking, rebuilding,

Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with

     white teeth,

Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young

     man laughs,

Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has

     never lost a battle,

Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse.

     and under his ribs the heart of the people,

               Laughing!

Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of

     Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog

     Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with

     Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.

Wrigley Building in Chicago, viewed from hotel, 1921-1924, first part

The building was designed by the architectural firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White using the shape of the Giralda tower of Seville's Cathedral combined with French Renaissance details. 

The 425-foot (130 m) south tower was completed in April 1921 and the north tower in May 1924. Walkways between the towers were added at the ground level and the third floor. In 1931, another walkway was added at the fourteenth floor to connect to offices of a bank in accordance with a Chicago statute concerning bank branch offices. 

State Street bridge, Chicago visit

This bridge is among the newer of Chicago's deck truss bascule bridges with a 1949 construction date...The bridge is an example of the unique Chicago design which raised the position of the deck truss up just far enough so that the top chord is above the deck like a pony truss, where it can act as a guardrail and also increase both the clearance under the bridge and the streamlined aesthetics of the bridge. This design is known as the railing height truss...

Chicago visit for IIDA and Neocon

Today Chicago boasts somewhere over 40 movable bridges. At least 20 of these are in the downtown area. During Chicago's boating season, which runs from April 15 through November 15, over 52,000 boats pass through the Chicago River, and the bridges are opened close to 30,000 times a year.

Principal's meeting, 2013, Gensler in Chicago

Principals meeting for Gensler in Chicago ,

The full vertical format painted view of the meeting in Chicago...a set of illustrations combined and mashed together to document the meeting and events and issues discussed at the weekend event.

Gensler Principals meeting 2013 in Chicago

GenslerPrincipalsmeeting2013Chicago, a photo by douglaswittnebel on Flickr.

the base portion of the vertical format painted view of the meeting in Chicago...a set of illustrations combined and mashed together to document the meeting and events and issues discussed at the weekend event.