designslinger

Mutually Insured

designslinger — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 07:11:00 GMT

[Mutual Insurance Building (1921/26) Fugard & Knapp/ B. Leo Steif, Chicago /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

When you look at these pictures of the former Mutual Insurance Building, imagine the top
four stories removed and you'd know what the structure actually looked like when it was built in 1921.

[Ecumenical Institute, 4750 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago / Image & Artwork: designslinger]

Originally designed by the architectural duo of Fugard & Knapp, the additional four floors
came from the pencil of Leo Steif in 1926 when the Lumbermen's Mutual Casualty Company took up tenancy. Eventually the insurance firm occupied the entire building which grew into the Kemper Insurance Group, headed by Mutual's president James S. Kemper, and became the national headquarters of the growing insurance conglomerate.

[From four to eight stories /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

The exquisite terra cotta details designed by Fugard, and continued up the facade by Steif,
have survived - surprisingly - virtually intact. Given that Kemper left the property in 1971 when they donated the building to the Chicago Ecumenical Institute, the exterior has held up fairly well during the past few decades. It currently houses the offices of the ICA-USA, an offshoot of the Institute, and a slew of non-profit, social service agencies. Kemper was gobbled up by a company called Unitrin in 2003.

[Mutual Insurance Building in detail, August 2, 2009 /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

And despite all the changes in and around the building, it still shines at the corner of
Lawrence and Sheridan.

Friday Snippets 2.5.10

designslinger — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 07:19:00 GMT

[Edgemore, Andersonville, Chicago, December 2, 2009 /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

Alberto Giacometti's Walking Man sets an art auction record selling for $104 million. [WSJ]

Dell buys vintage photo collection for a reported $100 million. [Lindsay Pollock]

The Metropolitan Museum of Art chalks up a record $8.4 million operating deficit.
[Bloomberg]

A ravaged movie palace set to have a dazzling, new premiere. [NY Times]

In Russia, President Medvedev becomes a champion of historic preservation.
[Art Newspaper]

The $8 billion dollar high-speed rail plan and Chicago's Union Station. [Cityscapes]

Typewriters seem so 19th century, but artist Jeremy Mayer has put them to good use.
[Wired]

A tribute to Lucienne Day, Britain's design doyenne. [Guardian]

Are these really the 27 most influential designers and design thinkers of today?
[Business Week]

Any big plans for the weekend? Our niece is coming in from London for a short visit.
See you Monday.

Elegance on Belden

designslinger — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:30:00 GMT

[Belden Hotel, Chicago (1922) Meyer Fridstein & Co. /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

A degree of service and appointment, rare even among the world's finest hotels, will be
inaugurated in Chicago tonight with the formal opening of the Belden Hotel and Apartments.
So proclaimed the Lott Hotel Company on the November 15, 1923.

[Belden-Stratford Hotel, 2300 N. Lincoln Park West, Chicago, January 13, 2010 /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

Designed by Meyer Fridstein and built for $4,000,000. the Belden was all about opulent,
luxury living in a residential apartment hotel.

[French-inspired details /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

The 19th century French-inspired details were planted on to this 1920s modern high-rise
to reinforce the notion of elegance. Although the apartments weren't incredibly large, the building offered all kinds of services from in-apartment dining via the Belden Restaurant located on the ground floor, to the Tea Room, the Food Shop grocery store located in the basement, and if you so desired - maid service. Leases were offered for long and short term rental, just as they are today.

[Belden-Stratford roofline /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

By November of 1924, the society columns were calling the hotel the Belden-Stratford,
and many social events were held in the ballroom. One service the current management does not offer comes from the original opening announcement:

Cooking may be done in the kitchenette by the housewife - or a chef will do it for her - if she's not an expert.

designslinger: Word of the Week

designslinger — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 07:30:00 GMT

[Samson and the Lion (1604-07) Cristoforo Stati, Italian, Art Institute of Chicago /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

We're taking you back to September and our very first Word of the Week. It's related to
marble, not lion brawling.

The answer's here.

Last Station Standing

designslinger — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 07:05:00 GMT

[Polk St. Station/Dearborn St. Station, Chicago (1885) Cyrus L.W. Eidlitz /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

It stands tall at the foot of Dearborn Street as it dead ends into Polk Street. Once one of
six great rail stations crowding downtown Chicago, the old Polk Street Station is the oldest surviving depot in the city, and the only one from the 19th century.

[Dearborn Street Galleria (1983) Chicago, November 2, 2009 /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

Built in 1885, and designed by Cyrus L.W. Eidlitz, the Romanesque Revival exterior
explodes with ornamental terra cotta decor.

[Dearborn Street station detail /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

Once the home of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad the head house is all that
remains of a once thriving terminal. Today the building serves as a gateway to a large housing development called Dearborn Park, which covers the vast acreage once home to the train shed and a large network of rail tracks.

[Dearborn Station, interior stairwell /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

There is virtually nothing left of the old interior, but if you poke around you might just find
the remnant of one of the old staircases. A piece of architecture left over from a period in American transportation history that has virtually vanished from the landscape.

Flat Living at Hotel St. Benedict

designslinger — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:26:00 GMT

[Hotel St. Benedict Flats (1882) James E. Egan /Image & Artwork; designslinger]

While the building hasn't changed much since it was built in 1882, the surrounding
neighborhood would be unrecognizable to the first tenants who moved into the Hotel St. Benedict Flats.

[Hotel St. Benedict Flats, 40-50 E. Chicago Avenue, August 4, 2009 /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

Designed by architect James Egan, the building was constructed on the site of a former
church operated by the Benedictine order, hence the inspiration for the name.

[Facade and entry, Hotel St. Benedict Flats /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

It's hard to imagine today, but back then apartment/flat living was not considered
respectable by the upper middle classes, and developer Patrick Sexton was interested in catering to that social and economic group.This may have been a reason for Egan choosing to break the facade into alternating set-backs with multiple porticoed entrances. It made the St. Benedict appear as though it could be a series of large, individual single-family townhouse/row houses.

[Stone balcony /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

Originally there was one apartment per floor, per bay. Eventually the large floor plans
were divided into smaller units and first floor apartments were converted into retail spaces. So although a lot has changed, the exterior has miraculously survived virtually intact for 128 years, and would still be recognizable to those first, pioneering tenants.

Friday Snippets 1.29.10

designslinger — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:18:00 GMT

[Steger Building, Chicago, November 12, 2009 /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

Five ways the iPad will change magazine design. [Pentagram]

iPad and the sanitary napkin. [Fast Company]

It's been a week of Old Masters in New York at Sotheby's and Christie's.

Museums and the Internet take another leap into the 21st century with LACMA's
announcement that they will publish exhibition catalogs online. [Modern Art Notes]

In the ongoing saga of Shepard Fairey and his Obama poster, the artist is now facing a
criminal investigation after he revealed he deleted files and submitted false images in the AP case.
[LA Times]

Built in 1998, voted England's most hated building, soon to be demolished. [Guardian]

Fixing broken art. [NY Times]

A butcher's son makes good. Agnolo Bronzino at the Met. [New Yorker]

Clunky construction scaffolding may become a thing of the past. [Architectural Record]

After a few 40°F days we're headed back into the zero to 10 degree range. Maybe
we'll be staying in this weekend. See you Monday.

Trump's Towering Chicago Tower

designslinger — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:21:00 GMT

[Trump International Hotel and Tower (2009) Adrian Smith, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill /Image & Artwork:
designslinger]

Chicago's Trump Tower opened in 2009 without the kind of fanfare you might expect from
The Donald. There were no fireworks exploding from the rooftop, but his building makes quite a statement.

[Trump Tower Chicago, 401 N.Wabash Avenue /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

It soars above Chicago's River and peaks out above all the buildings on the city's skyline,
except for Willis(Sears) Tower, making it the 7th tallest building in the world.

[Trump Tower facade and parking garage ramp /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

Designed by Adrian Smith when he was still with Skidmore, Ownings & Merrill, (where he
also did the Burj Kahlifa) it has been praised for its shimmering skin and panned as uninspired. I'm not a fan of the lame, spindlely spire that sits on top, it diminishes the building for me. But I must admit, the towering tower catches my eye whenever I'm downtown, and when the sun is out, the place shines.

designslinger: Word of the Week

designslinger — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:00:00 GMT

[Art Institute of Chicago (1893) Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

There is a word that describes this type of sculptural artwork. It was a Word of the Week
back in October. Does it ring a bell?

The answer's here.

Snowprints

designslinger — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 07:24:00 GMT

[Abstract snow, January 13, 2009 /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

Take a look at the abstract pattern in the snow. Can you tell what it is? In the photo below
I moved in a little closer....

[Snow prints /Image & Artwork; designslinger]

Any ideas? Warning! In the next picture all will be revealed, so if you're ready....

[Winter geese /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

Geese prints. Or is it goose prints?

[Geese swimming in winterr /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

I stumbled upon this gaggle of geese swimming in freezing cold water in a Lincoln Park
lagoon.

[Goose gaggle /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

There were hundreds of them wandering around, taking a dip and looking for something to
eat. Guess these snowbirds saw no reason to head to Florida for the winter, unlike other Chicagoans we know.

Science and Industry

designslinger — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:55:00 GMT

[Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago, January 20, 2010 /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

Last week we went to the Museum of Science and Industry, which I hadn't visited in years.
The exterior of the building hadn't changed much, and the layout of the interior was familiar, but most of the exhibits had been updated or were new. By the way, the scale model of Chicago buildings in the lower left photo are built entirely of Legos!

[Museum of Science and Industry/Palace of Fine Arts (1893/1929-40) D.H. Burnham & Co./Graham, Anderson,
Probst & White /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

The museum is housed in the only building to have survived Chicago's famous and
ground breaking 1893 World's Columbian Exposition - the Palace of Fine Arts. Well, this isn't exactly the same structure, but a facsimile of the original.

[Building in lath and plaster and in limestone /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

The grand, ornate buildings of the Fair complex weren't built to last. While constructed
of a steel framework, most of the White City was covered in lath and plaster. The Palace was built of a little sturdier material since it housed art collections, and was turned into the Field Museum of Natural history at the Fair's end. But by the 1920s, the building was literally falling apart. The Field moved to a new location, so the old Fair building was rebuilt to house another museum. The 1893 exterior was recreated in exacting detail, only this time with a more permanent material, limestone.

[Moderne details (1929-40) /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

In keeping with the times, 1929/30, the interior was designed with Art Moderne details,
some of which still survive. Then the cavernous spaces were filled with exhibits extolling the virtues of the arts of science and industry.

[Gestation and birth /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

Now when I was a kid there were two exhibits on our "must see" list, no matter how many
trips we made over the years. One was to the "nine month gestation of a fetus from inception to birth" display. We always found the fetuses-floating-in-formaldehyde absolutely fascinating. Then there were the baby chicks, a giant incubator of eggs cracking open with tiny, little birds emerging from their shells. Last week we stood watching these wet, soon to be fluffy chicklets along with hundreds of youngsters screaming with delight, just like I did decades ago. And by then, it was time for these two oldsters to head on home.

Friday Snippets 1.22.2010

designslinger — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:18:00 GMT

[Danger - Falling Ice /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

Designers without design jobs reinvent themselves. [NY Times]

Endowments have fallen, giving is scare, attendance is down and the average age of
museum goers in the U.S.continues to climb. Is a reinvention the path to sustainability? [The Art Newspaper]

Whilst in Europe, funding for the arts is slowly creeping out of the state subsidized
funding model and into the more "American" version of private/corporate funding. [NY Times]

Nefertiti's makeup may have actually been good for her health. [ArtInfo]

Christie's (the auction house) is offering free appraisals of your favorite, vintage Gucci's
(the fashion house) both owned (ironically?) by Pinault, the high-end conglomerate house. [lindsay pollock]

When you leave the firm, the firm forgets you. Skidmore, Owings and Merrill seems to
have dropped former chief designer Adrian Smith from the Burj Khalifa credit roster. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Confession: I love maps. Two of the oldest maps of the world, from 1507 and 1602, are
on display at the Library of Congress through April 10th. [NY Times]

The venerable baseball park known as Wrigley Field, will be undergoing a massive
restructuring scheduled to be completed by 2014, the landmark's 100th birthday. [Chicago Tribune]

Designer Tom Ford interviews designer Nicolas Ghesquiere and Mr. Ford asks Nicolas
lots of questions, then spends lots of time talking about himself, including his love of nakedness. [interviewmagazine]

On that note, we'll say so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye, and see you Monday.

The Brewster Apartments

designslinger — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 08:00:00 GMT

[The Brewster (1893) Enoch Turnock, 2800 Pine Grove Avenue, Chicago, January 13, 2010 /Image & Artwork:
designslinger]

As you walk down Diversey Parkway and approach Pine Grove Avenue, the rough stone
texture of the Brewster Apartments comes into view. When you get to the corner and catch a glimpse of the entire building, you can't help but pause for a minute to take it all in.

[Detail of the upper floors /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

As your eyes scan the rusticated surface up to the roofline there is a surprisingly delicate ornamentation that rings the top of the structure. The Brewster was designed in 1893 by Enoch Turnock and originally called the Lincoln Park Palace. The bulky mass of the building belies the fact that it is actually constructed of a light-weight steel frame which was cutting edge technology at the time. Surprising then that Turnock used so much heavy masonry as a covering. I was also surprised when I found out that one of the two building entrances was designated for Ladies.

designslinger: Word of the Week

designslinger — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 07:30:00 GMT

[Cornice, January 13, 2010 /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

cornice (KAWR-nis) n. any molded projection which crowns or finishes the part of which
it is affixed;

[Cornice in vertigre /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

the exterior of a structure at the meeting of the roof and wall;

[Cornice made of tin and painted black /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

the crowning member of a wall, or part of a wall, as a coping treated architecturally.

The Rookery

designslinger — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 08:07:00 GMT

[Rookery Building (1886-88) Burnham & Root, Chicago, January 14, 2010 /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

This spectacular view comes from the bottom of the atrium stairwell in Daniel Burnham
and John Root's Rookery Building.

[Main lobby, view to Root's staircase /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

Designed by the Chicago-based architects in 1886, the Rookery has seen a few changes
during its lifetime, including a lobby redo by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1906.

[Main lobby, view to Wright's redone staircase /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

Wright was brought in to modernize and lighten-up Root's heavy, dark cast-iron lobby.
He replaced the original light fixtures, reworked the design of the railing panels and wrapped the iron posts and beams in white marble panels covered with an incised, Moorish inspired pattern and a gold leaf treatment. It's hard to believe this is the work of the master of the Prairie School style, but the planters at end of the grand staircase are quite Wright.

[Root's cast-iron, cantilevered stair /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

Root's original sweeping cantilevered staircase still remains, and takes you up into the
dynamic stairwell that you saw in the first photo.

[Interior Root's stairwell /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

I have never seen nor been in a stairwell quite like this one. The entire structure is
wrapped in a skin of iron and glass, revealing an interior light court that became a signature design element of the Burnham & Company's commercial projects.

[Drummond era elements /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

In the early 1930s architect William Drummond, a Prairie School designer as well, was
asked to do another updating of the now 43-year-old building. He reworked lobby staircases and covered the floor in pink marble among other changes. All that remains of Drummond's updates are the elevator light sconces and the Art Deco patterns on the elevator doors.

[Cast-iron column revealed to be wrapped in marble; Original mosaic floor /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

In 1989, the building's owner Tom Baldwin undertook an expensive and extensive
restoration and rehabilitation of the Rookery. It was then that an important discovery was made. Root's entire cast-iron lobby still survived buried beneath Wright's marble enlightenment. One of the original iron columns was left exposed for all of us to see, as was the only remaining piece of the mosaic tile floor which is outlined by a small brass strip embedded in the restored and recreated pattern.

[Rookery Building, exterior view of the upper stories /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

Upon the building's completion in 1888, Burnham & Root moved their offices to the
11th floor of the Rookery where the plans for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition got underway in 1890.

[Rookery Building, 209 S. LaSalle Street, Chicago /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

Unfortunately Root died of pneumonia in January, 1891 just as major planning on the
Fair was beginning. Burnham went on to a long productive career, and died a world-renowned architect and urban planner in 1912.

Sun and Ice

designslinger — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 07:28:00 GMT

[Lakeview Presbyterian Church (1888) Burnham & Root, Chicago, January 13, 2010 /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

The sun came out and the temperatures soared into 30s! Snow started melting and the
dripping water, combined with the not too much above freezing temps, created some spectacularly, shimmering icicles.

[Notebaert Nature Museum (1999) Perkins & Will, Lincoln Park, Chicago /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

We're expecting to see 40F degree weather before the next cold snap arrives.

[Hanging on to the eaves /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

So it was time to hustle and get some snaps of these dramatic, eave-hanging pieces
of ice before they all melted away.

Friday Snippets 1.15.10

designslinger — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 07:31:00 GMT

[Mather Building, Michigan Avenue, Chicago, January 4, 2009 /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

The hottest topic of the week, the year, the next decade(?) in the art world, is the
appointment of New York gallery owner Jeffrey Deitch to run LA's Museum of Contemporary Art. [latimes]

The best, and largest, art fair in Britain for Modern and Contemporary Art is up and running
in London. Check out the exhibiting galleries and their offerings here. [London Art Fair 2010]

The Triennale Design Museum, based in Milan, is going to open up a space in New York,
across from MoMA. [Crain's New York]

The subway map, a monumental graphic design challenge. [Design Observer]

A fashion salesman becomes a fashion designer. [NY Times]

The death of Saab and their unusual approach to design. [Wallpaper]

London's hidden architecture in three exquisite places of worship. [Guardian]

Some amazing photos from National Geographic's 2009 International Photography
winners. [National Geographic]

Supposed to warm up here in Chicago, a whopping 40F degrees forecast. Have a
great weekend and see you Monday.

What A Difference A Season Makes

designslinger — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 07:42:00 GMT

[Late morning view from the 15th Floor, June 2009 & January 2009 /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

When we lived in LA the weather changed each season, but not a lot.

[Easterly view from 150 feet up, same time of day /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

Our view over the LA basin from the Hollywood Hills was ususally sunny with green.

[Southeast view in Summer and Winter /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

Now we've seen big changes as we've moved from Summer, into Fall and finally Winter.
The most dramatic change of all.

designslinger: Word of the Week

designslinger — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 08:00:00 GMT

[Architectural relief panel with foliage design (12th C.) Afghanistan, Art Institute of Chicago /Image & Artwork:
designslinger]

This Word of the Week described something as intricate in design or function; finely or
skillfully made or employed; artistic.

Can you remember the word?

Find the answer here.

Is That A Sullivan I See?

designslinger — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:19:00 GMT

[Teller's Wicket from the National Farmers Bank (1907-08) Louis Sullivan, Owatonna, Minnesota, Art Institute of
Chicago /Image & Artwork: designslinger]

Are you familiar with the work of architect Louis Sullivan? You might not be to sure about
a particular building he designed, but you are probably aware of the spectacular ornamentation he created for his projects.

[Sullivanesque ornament /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

As you wander the streets of Chicago, you'll notice some of Sullivan's ornament in the
least likely places. Sometimes a bit of Sullivan surrounding a door opening, or a medallion in terra cotta decorating an otherwise nondescript commercial building.

[Sullivanesques in commercial brick facades /Images & Artwork: designslinger]

But, they are not Sullivan - per se. Most of these glazed terra cotta pieces were
manufactured by the Midland Terra Cotta Company (later the American Terra Cotta Company) headquartered in Chicago. They were based on Sullivan's designs for other buildings, or on designs by a handful of architects who were inspired by his work. A little bit from one building here, with a dash of ornament from another and voilà!, you have a Sullivanesque design. Midland then produced a catalog offering these pieces for sale which any builder or architect could order from, and then place into their rather ordinary facade to spice things up a bit.

[Sullivanesque ornament crowns a building /Image and Artwork: designslinger]

Apparently the Master had no hands on relationship with the pieces manufactured by the
terra cotta company. However, I read a story years ago that Sullivan actually designed these pieces later in his career for a few dollars a piece when he was completely broke and looking for cash in order to eat. Ironically, these terra cotta beauties have found their way into the stockrooms of salvage businesses around the country and can be quite expensive to purchase.

See related Sullivan posts here and here.