Frank Lloyd Wright, legendary American architect and genius mind behind the Organic Architecture philosophy, once said :
 «  The mother Art is Architecture. Without an Architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization. ” 

This quote resonated within me while I explored the city of Chicago in the summer of 2014. Wandering those streets with my camera and a tripod, I felt a sort of peacefulness that I wasn’t expecting to find in this temple of concrete and corporate business. I witnessed a natural harmony between the architecture, the environment, and the human beings spread across the city. It was summer; the beaches that line Lake Michigan were packed like seaside resorts and Chicagoans were sunbathing on their boats or playing volleyball on the sand. Everything looked surreal and so very different from the Chicago I expected to encounter. But just a few blocks away from the lakefront was the heart of the Loop—Chicago’s downtown and financial district—where lawyers, stock traders, and office workers walked alongside tourists beneath the mythical tracks of the elevated transit lines. The ‘L’, as those lines are called in the Chi, runs through and around the Loop, next to the city’s tallest buildings, which stand strong, high, and proud. That’s one thing that struck me in the Windy City—each edifice had its own style and identity, yet they combined to form blocks and tableaux that made you feel the genuine soul emanating from each neighborhood. Using the 2.35 aspect ratio and perspective, I tried to frame these endless skyscrapers and towers as if they were part of original sketches, and by doing so I hope to pay tribute to the great architects and designers behind some of the most iconic buildings in Chicago.

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Directed, Shot & Edited by Kevin Couliau
Color Grading : Fred Fleureau
Motion Design : Charly Jacquette
Sound by Benzene Music
Music by Rawman
Sound Design & Mix by Loic Canevet
Supervision : Benjamin Desplanques
Location Scout : Caroline Blaise

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Shot on a Canon 5D Mark III with a 17-40mm f4 and a 70-200mm 2:8 IS II on a Manfrotto 190CX Pro 3 tripod. 

- In Order of Appearance - 

1. Tribune Tower / John Howells & Raymond Hood, 1925
2. Aon Center / Edward Durell Stone, 1973
3. Bp Bridge / Frank Gehry, 2004
4. John Hancock Center / Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 1969 
5. Aqua / Studio Gang, 2009
6. The Loop / CTA, 1895
7. Lake Point Tower / Schipporeit-Heinrich Associates, Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, 1968
8. The Parkshore / Barancik Conte, 1991
9. Navy Pier Ferris wheel / George Washington Gale Ferris Junior, 1983
10. 500 Lake Shore Drive / Solomon Cordwell Buenz, 2013
11. South Pond Pavilion / Studio Gang, 2010