Art Institute Take 2

A few more pictures of the new Modern Art wing are up on my flickr. (Also check out Chuck's, he's got a fancier camera).We had a chance to go there this week and actually see a bit of the art as well as the building. It's been free all week, so it was still pretty packed, but we saw the photography, Modern European Art, and the Cy Towmbly Exhibit. Wow, we saw most of it I guess, just need to go back at some point to see the Contemporary art. It's not a small new wing!

Anyway, I'll be in Ohio for the next week. Several of my cousins are graduating high school and also college, though that comes next month. So posts will be light this week, most likely. So have a good one!

Modern Art Wing Opening

I had a very architectural weekend. Friday night we got to go to a preview night for volunteers of the homes on the Wright Plus tour. We managed to cram all the homes into the 2 or so hours that we had that evening, but it's a bit of a blur. I had to review the booklet the next day to get a little clarification. But it was a nice evening, and the first time I've had a chance to do much wandering around Oak Park. We will be going back just for some walks.

Since we'd been so successful covering everything there, we decided that the opening weekend of the Art Institute's Modern Wing was not something to miss. It was packed full of people, but I managed to get a few shots of details like the ones above. I do kind of like all the pictures I got of tons of people going up and down the stairs as well, that's not something that's going to happen again. Overall, it's a lovely clean and efficient building, what you would expect from Renzo Piano. I think we were all a little surprised by the amount of glare coming off of the metal flooring on his bridge, but I guess that fits in with the BP bridge by Gehry. Still, it was hard to take without sunglasses. Otherwise the experience of walking up to the restaurant and outdoor patio from the garden across the street was pleasant. We really only took in the building, though we did (appropriately) pop into the Architecture and Design exhibit. I look forward to going back soon to see how it functions on a typical day. And probably to take more pictures.

Computational Knowledge Engine

This morning chuck told me that the WolframAlpha Knowledge engine was released today. I of course had know idea what he was talking about, or even if I was sure if he was speaking english. But I went and looked for it anyway. I'm still not sure I get what it's all about, but it seems fun. I searched for my name, and the results are below. A chart that reflects what I've perceived to be true, Emma was not a common name when I was born, but had been in the past, and is currently. You can also search for dates, locations, and so forth, and it will draw statistical information from all over the internet. A pretty cool idea and fun to explore. It's still in testing, so I ran into just a few kinks, but retrying my entry seemed to get it to work.

Wright Plus

This is where I'll be today, and then again on Sunday. Wright Plus is a big event in Chicago, it's a home tour in Oak Park of homes by Frank Lloyd Wright or his contemporaries. Of course, the Robie house, which is the house I know stuff about, isn't in Oak park. So instead of activites on the day of the event, Saturday, the days around the event they are expecting Wright Plus crowds at the Robie house. I've already spent a bunch of time down there training, last weekend I helped out with some gardening, but I haven't given a tour yet. This weekend will be my first real tour! I hope it goes well.

Also this weekend is cram packed full of all kinds of events around Chicago, like the opening of the new wing at the Art Institute, architectural tours all over the city, the farmers markets have started up...all kinds of stuff. I am really not too sure what I will be doing with my Saturday yet, but regardless, I will be pretty busy.