Heading south down the shore of Lake Michigan from the Chicago Loop, you encounter a landscape that is both sublime and ineffable at the same time. There are no words to describe it. As I planned my journey to a series of Midwest industrial powerhouses, I realized I had never used these old, very old…
Tag: Chicago
Survivors, Chicago, August 2023
We’ll finish up Chicago by looking at those vestiges from the past that survived the rapid gentrification and rebuilding of the central core of the Windy City which has happened over the last forty years. A hundred years ago, the area north of the Chicago River was a relatively peaceful residential neighborhood, but with the…
LaSalle Street Revisited and the Art-Deco, Chicago
I looked at LaSalle Street briefly back in June of 2008, taking photos of the Rookery, Chicago Board of Trade and another bank. In July of 2008 I featured a skyscraper that had been “chopped off” and replaced with a more modern tower. But let’s look at the Rookery first, which like the Wainwright Building…
The Wrigley Building and Marina Towers
“The Wrigley Building is so recognizable, it hardly needs an introduction,” states the introduction of the Chicago Architecture Center’s page on one of the most iconic skyscrapers in the United States, if not the world. I looked at it one time briefly before in June of 2008. The product of the building of the Michigan…
The Chicago River and Civic Identity
I would argue that the approximate one mile from the Lake Shore Drive Bridge to Wolf Point, where the Chicago River splits into its North and South branches, is easily one of the most famous vistas in the world. Along it you will see the Wrigley Building, the Tribune Tower and many others you’d recognize…
Civic and Retail Monuments, Chicago
I was always intrigued how for decades, the Cook County Building/Chicago City Hall stared at the Marshall Fields Department Store across the Daley Plaza and Block 37. Then, several years ago, Block 37 was redeveloped, Marshall Field’s became a Macy’s, and that grand urban vista was blocked and altered, most likely forever. While it looks…
Holy Name Cathedral and Three Churches, Chicago
We’ll dive into our tour of Chicago, which hasn’t seen a post since January of 2015, by first looking at Holy Name Roman Catholic Cathedral and several other noteworthy churches. I visited six cathedrals on this most recent trip, three archdioceses, three dioceses, and was able to view the interior of three. The original Holy…
Peter A. Beachy House, Oak Park
Actually a remodel of a Gothic Revival cottage, Frank Lloyd Wright’s plans for the house completely redefines the original house. Wright’s trip to Japan and its influence on him shows up in the elements of this house, such as in the window treatments and the contrasting dark brown beams with yellow walls.