Lagrange grew up in the Provence region of France as the son of a mason. He lived in France until he was eighteen years old when he moved to Montreal, Quebec in 1959 as a high schooldropout. He chose Montreal because they speak French. When he arrived in Montreal he worked various odd jobs and eventually felt a desire to become an architect. He returned to school at age twenty-five. He had to take night classes to complete his high school education. Then, he enrolled at Sherbrooke University in engineering. After his first year, he got accepted to McGill University, which was his first choice for architecture study. He obtained his B.Arch. degree in 1972 from McGill.[3]
During his course of study, he was encouraged to find a job with a major architectural firm in 1968. He came to visit Chicago that year and saw the construction of the John Hancock Center well underway. He had been a draftsman, but now decided to shift from getting odd jobs to getting hired by a major firm. At school, Peter Collins, a professor of his, gave him a book with only the initials S.O.M. on the cover. At the same time he made some business contacts with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe who was working on Westmount Square at a time when Lagrange was doing some shop drawings. He eventually called Mies' office and requested a job, but was told that they only had enough work to take on a few students and were committed to some from the Illinois Institute of Technology. They said they could refer him to either C.F. Murphy or Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (S.O.M.). Because of the book his professor had given him he chose S.O.M for summer 1968 employment.[3]
His skill as a draftsman quickly got him assigned as a designer for Bruce Graham. He credits his summers with Bruce Graham learning how to combine his technical side with learning the design spectrum to successfully put buildings together. He became a top student at McGill and graduated in 1972.[3]
Post graduate experience
After graduating Lagrange had to return to France to fight charges of draft dodging the French Army. He had avoided involvement in French military confrontations in Algeria for twelve years. He won his fight, which enables him to freely return to France. He then returned to Montreal to work for Norbert Schoenauer for a year on a multi-family residential housing project in northern Quebec. Then he worked with S.O.M. who were the urban planners for a Canadian Pacific/Bank of Montreal assignment. He then worked on various assignments in Chicago and Montreal until 1978 when he moved to Chicago permanently.[3]
Lagrange has a reputation as Chicago's architect for the wealthy. In fact, he is considered the go-to guy for classically inspired high-end residential buildings. As such he is known for understanding luxurious lifestyle and incorporating it into designs so that art collections, vast wardrobes, jewelry safes, chefs, florists, and refrigerated fur storage are accommodated.[2] As an employer he has a reputation as an oligarchic ruler.[4]
When he was interviewed in 1997 about his first thirty years in architecture he marvelled at two major transformations. First he noted that the advent of the personal computer has changed the zipatone process. Then he noted that the real estate/architecture has also changed because "Projects are financed in a very different way, . . . We don't custom design everything. We use components, which are pre-designed, curtain walls, ceiling tiles. All the systems exist and we just integrate them in the architecture, which also means we can do a set of working drawings a lot faster today."[3]
With the Lincoln Park 2550 project, Lagrange is currently endeavoring to design the property's 3 acres (12,000m2) so that every unit to have a view of a French garden inspired by an 18th-century chateau that once housed Madame de Pompadour.[2]
Lagrange designed the Catalyst, a contemporary-style $100 million high-rise condominium planned at the northeast corner of Washington and Des Plaines in Chicago's Near West Sidecommunity area. Real estate developer Gary Rosenberg said, "Lucien Lagrange, the highly acclaimed award-winning architect for Catalyst, has created a striking geometric 22-story skyscraper, which immediately captures the eye when approaching the Chicago Loop from the [Kennedy] expressway. The building's design is unique with jutting blocks of glass space creating geometric squares and rectangles which seem to float on the building's façade, along with a strong vertical element which highlights the contemporary sleek style."[5]
Lagrange designed the Ritz-Carlton Residences on Chicago's Magnificent Mile, a 40-story condominium tower built at 664 North Michigan Avenue.[6] In 1996, Lucien Lagrange & Associates designed the building to rise at Rush Street and Chicago Avenue on the site then occupied by the 16-story Park Hyatt.[7] In 2008 Lagrange designed Manhattan's ultra Luxury 535 West End Avenue which is one of the most prestigious residential addresses in New York City.
In 2010 Lagrange closed his office and filed chapter 11 bankruptcy while going through a divorce. "Mr. Lagrange declines to comment about the firm's finances and says the Chapter 11 filing was merely a pragmatic business decision he made after deciding it was time to retire."[8]
Mr. Lagrange is currently designing under the Lucien Lagrange Studio brand. His most recent work is the RIU Hotel in Chicago on Ontario Street, and Rosewood Residences on Turtle Creek in Dallas.
SOM, previously Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by engineer John O. Merrill. The firm opened its second office, in New York City, in 1937 and has since expanded, with offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., London, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seattle, and Dubai.
Water Tower Place is a large urban, mixed-use development comprising a 758,000 sq ft (70,400 m2) shopping mall in a 74-story skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The mall is located at 835 North Michigan Avenue, along the Magnificent Mile. It is named after the nearby Chicago Water Tower, and is owned by affiliates of Brookfield Property Partners.
Park Tower is a skyscraper located at 800 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. Completed in 2000 and standing at 844 feet (257 m) tall with 70 floors — 67 floors for practical use, it is the twelfth-tallest building in Chicago, the 43rd-tallest building in the United States, and the 83rd-tallest in the world by architectural detail. It is one of the world's tallest buildings to be clad with architectural precast concrete. It is one of the tallest non-steel framed structures in the world—it is a cast-in-place concrete framed structure. This building was originally intended to be 650 ft (200 m) tall. But later, the ceiling heights were increased allowing it to reach 844 ft (257 m).
Emery Roth was a Hungarian-American architect of Hungarian-Jewish descent who designed many New York City hotels and apartment buildings of the 1920s and 1930s, incorporating Beaux-Arts and Art Deco details. His sons continued in the family enterprise, largely expanding the firm under the name Emery Roth & Sons.
The Carbide & Carbon Building is a 37-story, 503 feet (153 m) landmark Art Deco high rise built in 1929, located on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. It is clad in black granite, green and gold terra cotta, with gold leaf and bronze trim. It was converted to a hotel in 2004.
Warren and Wetmore was an architecture firm based in New York City, a partnership established about 1889 by Whitney Warren (1864–1943) and Charles D. Wetmore (1866–1941). They had one of the most extensive practices of their time, and were especially known for having designed many large hotels.
Willis Jefferson Polk was an American architect, best known for his work in San Francisco, California. For ten years, he was the West Coast representative of D.H. Burnham & Company. In 1915, Polk oversaw the architectural committee for the Panama–Pacific International Exposition (PPIE).
Adrian D. Smith is an American architect. He designed the world's tallest structure, Burj Khalifa, as well as the building projected to surpass it, the Jeddah Tower. A long-time principal of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, he founded his own architectural partnership firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture in Chicago in 2006. Among his other projects, he was the senior architect for Central Park Tower in New York City, Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago, the Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai, and Zifeng Tower in Nanjing.
The architecture of metropolitan Detroit continues to attract the attention of architects and preservationists alike. With one of the world's recognizable skylines, Detroit's waterfront panorama shows a variety of architectural styles. The post-modern neogothic spires of One Detroit Center refer to designs of the city's historic Art Deco skyscrapers. Together with the Renaissance Center, they form the city's distinctive skyline.
The Pinnacle is a residential skyscraper in downtown Chicago, Illinois. It was designed by Lucien Lagrange Architects and was developed by the Fordham Company. Completed in 2004 the building measures 535 ft tall with 49 stories. The building houses its own on-site auto repair and wine tasting rooms.
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG), an architecture firm and design firm based in Chicago, is engaged in the design and development of energy-efficient and sustainable architecture. AS+GG designs buildings, cities, masterplans and components of these, for an international clientele, with projects located throughout the world. The primary uses of these designs are civic, commercial, cultural, hospitality, residential and mixed-use. AS+GG also specializes in supertall skyscrapers, such as the Jeddah Tower, which will overtake the Burj Khalifa as the world's tallest building when completed.
The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton is a luxury residential skyscraper in Center City in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At 518 feet (158 m), the 48-story skyscraper is the 12th-tallest building in Philadelphia, and the tallest residential tower in the city.
Lucien Lagrange & Associates or Lucien Lagrange Architects is an architecture firm founded by Lucien Lagrange in 1985. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010. The company is located at 605 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, and it has approximately sixty employees. The company is owned 100% by Lucien Lagrange. Lagrange is a French-born architect who came to Chicago in 1978 after studying at McGill University and who rose to prominence while working for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill after having been a 1950s high school dropout.
Nathaniel Alexander Owings was an American architect, a founding partner of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, which became one of the largest architectural firms in the United States and the world. Owings viewed skyscrapers as his firm's specialty. His reputation rested on his ability to be what he called "the catalyst," the person in his firm who ironed out differences among clients, contractors and planning commissions.
T. J. Gottesdiener is an architect and managing partner of the New York office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). A graduate of Cooper Union’s Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, Gottesdiener joined SOM in 1980 and was made Partner in 1994. He lives with his wife in New York City; they have one son.
The Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia is a luxury hotel and residential complex that is located in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It comprises three adjoining buildings: the Girard Trust Bank, at the northwest corner of South Broad and Chestnut Streets, the Girard Trust Building, at the southwest corner of South Broad Street and South Penn Square, and The Residences at the Ritz Carlton, at 1414 South Penn Square.
The Hotel St. Moritz was a luxury hotel located at 50 Central Park South, on the east side of Sixth Avenue, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The structure was extensively rebuilt from 1999 to 2002, and today it is a hotel/condominium combination known as The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park.
Handel Architects LLP is an architecture firm that was founded in New York City in 1994. Led by Partner Gary Handel, the firm has offices in New York City, Boston, San Francisco, and Hong Kong.
The Ritz Tower is a luxury residential building at 465 Park Avenue on the corner of East 57th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It was built from 1925 to 1926 as an apartment hotel and was designed by Emery Roth and Thomas Hastings for journalist Arthur Brisbane, who was the developer. The Ritz Tower is about 541 feet (165 m) with 41 stories, making it the tallest residential building in New York City upon its completion. Because it was initially classified as an apartment hotel, the building was constructed to a greater height than was usually permitted.
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