ASPIRA of Illinois Business & Finance High School, Chicago, IL
The architects at MoDE Architects already had many colors in mind at the very beginning of the project to build the new ASPIRA of Illinois Business and Finance High School. After spending a short time in the John Caretti showroom, all seven colors and the aggregates were chosen quickly. The school, located in the Logan Square neighborhood in Chicago, wanted a building that reflected its concepts of awareness, analysis, and action. And MoDE succeeded, creating an atmosphere of achievement and learning.
Since 1961, ASPIRA has been working to provide Hispanic and Puerto Rican students with programs that encourage and inspire them to stay in school to prepare them to succeed academically, develop leadership skills, and serve their communities.
John Caretti installed 1,995 square feet of terrazzo in the corridors, entryway, and throughout the school. And the seven different colors—in shades of black, grey, white, yellow, green, and blue — were used to capture the spirit of ASPIRA’s mission.
Julie Bradford, project manager with John Caretti, said the installation went smoothly. According to Bradford, the one small challenge—hand bending all the radii out in the field, didn’t present much of a challenge to the terrazzo installers.
“Even with the hand bending in mind, my foreman mechanic did a great job transferring the architect’s design from paper into the actual installation,” she said.
Project details
- Location: Chicago, IL
- Project Name: ASPIRA of Illinois Business & Finance High School
- Owner/Client: ASPIRA of Illinois
- Terrazzo Contractor: John Caretti & Co.
- Architect: MoDE Architects
- General Contractor: F.H. Paschen
- Aggregate Supplier: Terrazzo & Marble Supply Co.
- Epoxy Supplier: General Polymers
- Divider Strip Supplier: Manhattan American - Terrazzo Strip Co
- Photography: Viken Djaferian, FotoGrafix