MAS Context Spring Talks 2023

Starship Chicago II

June 1-June 18, 2023

Between June 1 and June 18, 2023, MAS Context hosted the digital screening of Starship Chicago II, a film produced and directed by Nathan Eddy. The film had its world premiere in Chicago on May 25, 2023, hosted by MAS Context and the Chicago Architecture Center.

Contributors

About Starship Chicago II

Chicago’s postmodern people’s palace, the seventeenth-floor James R. Thompson Center, has been spared the wrecking ball.

As the controversial icon is radically transformed from a public office building into Google’s downtown headquarters, some of the building’s most notable features, including the perennially controversial color scheme, will be replaced. The central atrium will remain open to the public but will cease to be a publicly owned space.

The project raises fundamental questions about the urban environment: What is the future of public space in the city? How does a change in aesthetics impact architectural integrity? To whom does the city belong?

Through interviews with the key architects, developers, city officials, and preservationists involved in this ongoing saga, an existential question emerges: What gives a building soul?

Mas event 2023 starship chicago II poster 2

Starship Chicago II poster, 2023. Poster design by Luca de Vitis. © Nathan Eddy.

Featuring interviews with

Elizabeth Blasius, Architectural Historian, Preservation Futures
Ben Capp
, President (Retired) Wolverine Stone Company
Phil Castillo
, Managing Director, Jahn/
Maurice Cox
, Commissioner, Department of Planning and Development
Stewart Hicks
, Associate Professor of Architecture, University of Illinois Chicago
Evan Jahn
, President, Jahn/
Bonnie McDonald
, President & CEO, Landmarks Illinois
Mike Reschke
, Chairman & CEO, The Prime Group
Ward Miller
, Executive Director, Preservation Chicago

Mas event 2023 starship chicago II still 02

Maurice Cox, Commissioner, Department of Planning and Development. Still from Starship Chicago II. © Nathan Eddy.

Mas event 2023 starship chicago II still 03

Bonnie McDonald, President & CEO, Landmarks Illinois. Still from Starship Chicago II. © Nathan Eddy.

Mas event 2023 starship chicago II still 04

Stewart Hicks, Associate Professor of Architecture, University of Illinois Chicago. Still from Starship Chicago II. © Nathan Eddy.

Mas event 2023 starship chicago II still 05

Evan Jahn, President, Jahn/. Still from Starship Chicago II. © Nathan Eddy.

Mas event 2023 starship chicago II still 06

Interior, James, R. Thompson Center, Chicago. Still from Starship Chicago II. © Nathan Eddy.

Credits

Director & Producer: Nathan Eddy
Cinematography:
Brian Cagle
Editor:
Leonardo Franke
Music:
Dickey Doo
Aerial Photography: John Zhu

Comments