Unexpected Treasures
I have to say there is something wonderful about moving to a city with great architecture,
you can find architectural gems in the most unusual places. While we were walking purposefully down Clark Street on an errand, we came upon an elaborately carved piece of granite that appeared to be providing support for the turret of a very nondescript and rather ordinary apartment building.
It caught my attention because it bore no relation to the utilitarian design of the rest of
the ground floor facade. I had to ask myself, could it be possible that this monolithic column had come from a pattern book, ordered, and erected for the sole purpose of bringing attention to an otherwise dreary corner? And, since it stood adjacent to the rusting steel superstructure of the city's elevated rapid transit system, as well as a contemporary piece of street sculpture, the situation seemed even more incongruous.
Even so, under the el, on a stretch of Clark Street at Roscoe, you won't find a
Daniel Burnham, Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, but you will find a superior piece of craftsmanship and artistry in stone, tucked away in a little corner of Chicago.
Posted by designslinger at 6/9/2009 2:00 AM 
Categories: Architecture, Decorative Arts
Tags: Chicago Roscoe Street Clark Street
Categories: Architecture, Decorative Arts
Tags: Chicago Roscoe Street Clark Street
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