Public Art in Chicago's Plazas

Exelon Plaza in Chicago has not only a fountain and a clock but also a mosaic sculpture titled "Four Seasons" by Marc Chagall.

In Daley Plaza there is a large untitled piece by Pablo Picasso that's been hanging in the square since 1967.   Looking good!

Another golden oldie was a bit of a hunt for me to find. Not only emblazoned with Art Deco/Art Moderne designs, the Commonwealth Edison substation at 115 N. Dearborn shows a man harnessing electricity while straddling the city.  Erected in the 1930's it makes me wonder what our cities would look like today if we had only continued to make our public works structures so interesting.

On my way back to the train station I stopped to admire the figures in Riverside Plaza.  In the summer they stand guard over a profusion of colorful flowers.

Finalizing our travel plans for the year this week, including a trip to the North Carolina coast for a few weeks in April!  So excited!!

A Mural in the Third Ward by Way of the Basilica

On Saturday I drove up to Milwaukee to waste a few hours in the Third Ward and when I saw the signs on the highway for the Basilica of St. Josaphat I pulled over for a quick look.

I've seen the Basilica's dome from the highway before and knew I'd get there someday.  Ground was broken in 1896 and the Basilica was completed in 1901, its design based on the Vatican Basilica of St. Peter in Rome and named after an Archbishop of Poland from the early 1600s.

There's an interesting story about this building: it was built from salvaged materials of the U.S. Post Office and Custom House in Chicago.  The building was being razed and it was purchased for $20,000, the pieces loaded on 500 railroad flatcars for their trip to Milwaukee.  There were interesting displays in the basement related to the history of the Basilica, including a doorknob from the old building I would have loved to take home!

The Basilica is the largest church in Milwaukee and in 1929 was the third church to have been given Basilica status in the United States.   My favorite items were the angels holding the basins of Holy Water.

In general visiting churches is not high on my agenda, but this one was chock full of history and interesting artifacts.

23k gold leaf on the baldachino (canopy) on the High Altar

A Roman artist named Gonippo Raggi was hired in 1926 to paint the oil murals, ornamental plasterwork and also the faux marble walls and columns.

above the High Altar

There was so much going on in the Inner Dome I wouldn't even know where to begin.

The stained glass windows were imported from Innsbruck, Austria.  From the outside you'd never know what images they contained.  They reminded me of childhood, making me think I must have spent some time staring at them during mass in our Naval wanderings across the U.S. and Canada.

I didn't find any information on the crosses atop the building, but a closer look reveals not just their beautiful form but lightning rods as well!

Moving down the highway I headed for the Third Ward which suffered a tragic fire on October 28, 1892. The fire started in the Water Street Union Oil & Paint Co. Strong winds of up to 50 mph helped to spread the fire to the Ward's other buildings.  Cities such as Chicago and Oshkosh helped Milwaukee's fire department fight the flames by sending horse-drawn units by rail. 440 buildings were destroyed and more than 1,900 people, mostly Irish families, were left without homes by the time the fire was finally under control at midnight. (source, Wikipedia)

After the fire the Irish moved out and the Italians moved in, and the neighborhood was filled with warehouses, saloons and factories.  Today those buildings are filled with restaurants and specialty shops, the district a hip place to gather.  We joined the hip and had lunch at Milwaukee Public Market where you can wander around like at the mall food court except the food is much better.

We ate our chicken and dumpling soup from the Soup Market while seated above C. Adams Bakery, smelling baking cookies and listening to live guitar music while people watching.  Of course on the way out I had to buy a cupcake from C. Adams, and then a loaf of bread at Breadsmith, a chicken pot pie at Gehring Market, and the best hommus I've ever had at PitaWorks.

If coffee's your thing there is a Collectivo across the street, complete with funky mural.  There are worse ways to spend a Saturday afternoon in winter than shopping for yummy treats while admiring murals and architecture, right?  Linking up to Monday Mural.

Lake Geneva Winterfest Warm-Up

This weekend Lake Geneva is hosting their annual Winterfest.  It is running through the 13th, but I"d get out there quick because today's high is 39F, not really conducive to keeping snow from melting, but great for walking around down by the lake.

I swung over yesterday just before dark after work and got an eyeful of the artists at work...and their inspirational mascots.

It was hard to pick favorites, but here are the three I liked the best.   All of the entrants had sketches they were working from and some of them had clay models nearby also.

It got me in the mood for more sculpture, but that's hard to find in Wisconsin so maybe I'll look into adding sculpture competitions to my travel goals.  With the weather we have forecasted today I'm going to get out somewhere and see something!  Silly Wayne headed up to Brainerd, Minnesota for an ice fishing competition and he's ice fishing again next weekend for his annual trip with his buddies in northern Wisconsin.

What else is happening in Wisconsin besides snow and ice sculpting competitions and ice fishing?  Not much, I searched the Travel Wisconsin events calendar but our wintry weather doesn't lend itself to much else I guess.  I did find a few things I want to maybe check out later this spring through!

Walking LaSalle Street -The Financial District in Downtown Chicago

There are more great buildings on LaSalle Street in the financial district of Chicago like the Continental Illinois Bank Building at 231 S. LaSalle.  The exterior is Neo-Classical, a vaguely Greek or Roman feel to it with large columns.  I overlooked getting a picture of the front of the building because I was so drawn to the sign in front of it.

Those lion claws are the best!

The interior is a mix of Neo-Classical and Gothic-Revival architecture with Art Deco influences.  In the early 1990s the building underwent a 10 million dollar renovation that still looks incredible.

bronze gates are located on lower floors of  quite a few buildings in Chicago and Milwaukee

Right away I was drawn to the escalator and up I went to the grand hall which is almost as large as a football field!  The ceiling is 55 feet up from the marble floor and the Ionic columns themselves measure 35 feet.  I stood in awe, trying to imagine coming into this bank to do business when it opened in 1910.

My wide angle lens couldn't even get it all!

Above the columns are murals portraying classical figures representing 29 countries and the commodities that once defined them in international trade. A figure of Russia bears a fur pelt. Spain is symbolized by the three ships with which Christopher Columbus set sail in 1492.

Looking down the escalator...or up to the ceiling!

And reflecting the continuing influence of the Columbian Exposition, the murals also contain key buildings from the "White City" of the 1893 fair.  I think this might be some of them in the background of the picture entitled "United States" below.  This was as close as I could get...WITH my zoom lens!

Photography is allowed as long as you point your camera up and stay within the allowed small area for visitors.  I got special permission to photograph the light fixture at the base of one of the columns since there were no workers in the frame.  I mean, how cool is this lion?

Just a hop down the street the Federal Reserve Bank was unfortunately only a walk-by for me that day, but I plan on returning for a proper tour.  In 2001, the Bank opened a Money Museum, which offers visitors an informative and interactive look at the important role of the Federal Reserve in maintaining a healthy, growing economy.

Federal Reserve Bank with the Chicago Board of Trade to the left

The other imposing financial district building on this block is directly across from the Continental Illinois Bank is 208 S. LaSalle, formerly the City National Bank and Trust building.

Now it's a Marriott hotel with retail space on the lower level as well.  Yet another place I need to walk into and explore!  I think I'll get my buddy Jeanna to go with me next time.  Maybe we'll get up to some mischief like we did at the Capitol in Madison!

Dizzying Designs at The Rookery

One of my favorite buildings in Chicago is just down the block from the Board of Trade at the corner of Adams and LaSalle.  I got a lot of the information in this post directly from The Rookery website.

The Rookery was completed in 1886 by the architectural team of Burnham and Root, those guys famous for their work that led to modern day skyscrapers after the Great Chicago Fire.  At 11 stories tall it is one of the earliest examples of metal framing with masonry walls in a large commercial building.  Root developed the "grillage foundation" technique necessary to erect heavy buildings on Chicago's soggy soil.  This design consists of iron rails laid in a crisscross pattern and encased in concrete that support the building’s immense weight.

They also coordinated the architectural building of the endlessly fascinating (to me anyway) Columbian Exposition World's Fair.  Want to see pictures from the Fair?  I recommend "The Chicago World's Fair of 1893: A Photographic Record".

The Rookery was unique in that was so ornate for an office building.  Already decorative to begin with, in 1905 Frank Lloyd Wright was commissioned to work on the building and in the lobbies he covered nearly every inch with incised and gilded marble, removing or hiding the original panels and railings. The incising was copied from Root’s original work and was likely inspired by Owen Jones’ The Grammar of Ornament, a source Root also used.

"The Rookery" etched in marble that Frank Lloyd Wright added

From the website regarding the building's name:  "There are several stories about how the Rookery got its name. Some say it was called this because of the ramshackle appearance of the hastily built City Hall that occupied this site until 1885. Others claim the name originated with the crows that lived in the previous structure’s walls, paralleling the politicians who roosted there each day. It is also said that an adjacent fire station attracted scores of pigeons to the site to feed on the horses’ oats. Whatever the case, newspaper articles and first-hand accounts apply the word “rookery” when referring to the site of the post-fire City Hall. Unfortunately, people continued to call the new Burnham & Root masterpiece by the same name, which did not please the invested parties."

In 1931 William Drummond enclosed the elevators with solid bronze doors and marble, probably due to changes in fire code. A bit of Art Deco aesthetic played out in the realistic birds and flora and fauna etched into the doors, designed by Annette Byrne.

Art Deco inspired elevator doors

From the beginning the Rookery successfully implemented many new and breakthrough building technologies including metal framing, elevators, fireproofing, electrical lighting, and plate glass.  But the real show stopper is the light court. In the Chicago of the 1880s, getting sufficient light to read and work by was no easy task. Electricity was new, expensive and sometimes unreliable so access to natural light was critical.

Wright's staircase spilling into the light court of Burnham and Root design

When Wright was commissioned to work at The Rookery in 1905, the light court’s elaborate ironwork and ornament had gone out of fashion. A full-blown Prairie Style scheme would have overwhelmed the space. To strike a balance, Wright removed much of the iron and terra cotta detailing on the central staircase, balconies, and walls, replacing it with strong geometric patterns based on the railings of Root’s oriel stairs.

Root's iron stairway combined with Wright's lighter marble makes a stunning statement

Wright's bronze chandeliers

Wright added bronze chandeliers with prismatic glass that still hang there today and he encased the iron columns in white marble that was gilded and incised with Root’s Arabic motif found in the LaSalle entrance.

One of the best things about this building is the combination of details from different decades and architects that work so well together and of course the intensive restoration efforts.

Iron columns and original mosaic floors

Roman Goddesses and Native Americans at the Chicago Board of Trade

Now that I'm back home from Kentucky we can continue admiring the architecture of Chicago from my recent train trip in to the city.  The Chicago Board of Trade was completed in 1930 and is 45 stories of Indiana gray limestone.

The clock over the LaSalle Street entrance is 14 feet in diameter

If you recognize the Art Deco building, maybe it's because it has been featured in a few films like "Ferris Bueler's Day Off", "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" which happens to be in my DVR as we speak so I'll be keeping a lookout for it when I get around to watching it. The building is so massive in scale that I just took a picture of the framed prints inside instead of failing to do it justice with my own camera.

At right stands "Ceres" 6,500 pounds of aluminum sculpture atop the CBOT

Chicago sat on the edge of the prairie and it was the center of grain distribution and trading since the 1840s.  The railroads arrived in 1848 and the Illinois and Michigan Canal also opened, making distribution of materials more efficient.  By 1860 Illinois was the largest producer of corn and wheat, which is shown in the decoration both inside and outside the building.  Illinois is now the largest machinery manufacturer in the nation though that does include farm equipment so I suppose there is a continuity there if you think about it.

corn and wheat

The building was commissioned for the Chicago Board of Trade but of course other tenants also occupied the building and The Quaker Oats Company were the first to do so.  Even though the building was completed during the Depression, Art Deco as a style is all about the machine age and excitement about the future instead of looking back to classical architectural styles.  I was so excited about the architectural detail in the lobby that I dropped my gloves and a helpful employee had to point it out to me!

Through the lobby doors

The lobby underwent restoration efforts in 2005 and they did a fantastic job on the mailboxes and elevators.  The chutes go up for 40 stories but are of course only for looks these days.

beautiful wheat design

Ceres was a Roman goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility and motherly relationships and is also immortalized in a three story mural which was stored for many years but underwent restoration and was then displayed in the building addition added in the 1980's.  Hopefully I'll get to see that when I return!

Ceres on a pillar

It turns out that there are literally other sides to the building that I missed including a plaza with the statues that were removed from the old Board of Trade.  Another day, another time.

Native American holding corn