Architects are sharp-tongued and often harsh in their judgments of the work of other architects. Remember the wag who called Skidmore Owings & Merrill “three blind Mies?”
Blair Kamin reports the following takes on Pappageorge Haymes:
“I don’t know what happened to them,” said retired Evanston architect John Macsai, who co-taught Haymes at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “They used to do these charming two-story townhouses. Then they got some high-rises, and they didn’t know what the hell to do.”
“They did some really nice things early on. And hopefuly they’ll live up to that potential,” added Chicago architect Laurence Booth.
Macsai, who was the architect for one of my projects, regaled his students each year with a list – “Macsai’s shit list” – of the worst projects built in Chicago that year.
Kamin neglects to mention that Pappageorge Haymes’ most recent high-rises, 600 Lake Shore Drive and One Museum Park have received mostly positive reviews.