DANIEL BURNHAM. The Continental and Commercial. The Original

.
Its time to look at original views of the Continental and Commercial.  208 South LaSalle.  It's time for some fun.

 

Sally A. Kitt Chappell, on page 97 of her book "The Architecture and Planning of Graham, Anderson, Probst and White" quotes Andrew Rebori's description of the Continental and Commercial Bank from page 134 of his book "The Work of Burnham and Root".  I quote her here.

"A broad staircase once ascended to a lofty Banking Room, expressing the vaunted halls of a great financial institution. Enhanced by the abundant daylight that streamed through the barrel vault seventy-five feet overhead, the interior reflections were further intensified by the white marble mosaics on the floors, the shining brasses, and the lustrous columns that articulated the space..." I couldn't have said it better.

.

If we're going to try to learn about Architecture, we should learn it from someone who loves it. Both Chappell's and Rebori's work is highly recommended. The photo credits belong to Chappell. 

Peirce Anderson had been Daniel Burnham's lead designer for four years when he started the Continental and Commercial. Confident experimentation within the classic format is evident. Particularly the introduction of a directional facade and the delicate tracery of the high barrel-vaulted skylight.

As I learn more about each of Daniel Burnham's remaining Buildings in downtown Chicago I am reminded of our loss with the loss of each Burnham interior. These buildings were not boxes of offices packed onto a downtown lot. They were fully conceived Buildings that relate to the City around them. Public spaces. Interior Piazzas. Pedestrian Ways. Full of light.   Variation. Ornament.  Full of pride.

FOR MORE CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE AND PHOTOGRAPHY VISIT

THE CHICAGO LOOP.org

PARIS. 1898

Who can explain how the mind wanders?

The Ecole.  Credit due Lindernaute

On this rainy Christmas Eve of 2009, somehow, I've been drawn to Paris. 1898. To the Quai Malaquais. To my right, the tip of Cite pierces the Seine. Ahead, the Louvre. To my left, the Tuileries. Behind me is the Ecole des Beaux Arts.

1898 was a remarkable year in Paris. For Chicago. But, it would have been impossible to know then. That Peirce Anderson, Ed Bennett and Henry Hering, three students at the Ecole, all in their twenties, would dominate their fields in Chicago for the next quarter of a Century. Anderson in Architecture. Bennett in Urban Planning. Hering in Sculpture. Hering, the youngest of the three, had already worked with Daniel Burnham at the Columbian Exposition. Anderson and Bennett had no higher hopes. Surely they listened with envy to his stories of Standford White. Charles Atwood. Augustus Saint Gaudens.

These would be memories shared by these three from Union Station, and the Field Museum to Wacker Drive and the Michigan Avenue Bridge. Vin rouge ordinaire. Gitaines. Breakfast Baguettes. Childe Hassam. Camille Pissaro's latest. Nouveau. And the Ecole itself. An undercurrent of shared experience that History doesn't describe. Christmas Eve at Notre Dame. And Chicago. Waiting.

DANIEL BURNHAM. Continental and Commercial. George M. Reynolds

Men with names built early twentieth century Chicago. Characters with stories.

Following the Panic of 1907, George M. Reynolds, President of the American-Bankers' Association, stated "Conditions now existing give great assurance for a substantial business revival during the coming year" New York Times. January 10, 1909

"Banking conditions in Chicago are again normal" declared George Reynolds, President of the Continental and Commercial National Bank. "The Chicago Banks are perfectly sound and there are no weak spots." New York Times. June 23, 1914

"The Fort Dearborn National bank and the Fort Dearborn Trust and Savings Bank tonight were taken over by George M. Reynolds" ending a "crisis that had lasted several days....." New York Times. January 3, 1922

In discussing his new company (The Continental Chicago Corp.) Mr. George M. Reynolds issued a bullish bull to the effect that it would not have been considered "if we had not felt completely confident in the future." Time Magazine. September 23, 1929.

But despite change, panic and turbulence, George M. Reynolds established a banking empire that lasted until the 1994 takeover of the Contintental Bank. And, oh yes,  at 208 South Lasalle Street, George built this:
.

Daniel Burnham wasn't far from the money. In 1909 he was a director of the bank. Peirce Anderson,  Burnham's designer, started the project with Daniel and completed it with Graham Anderson Probst and White in 1914.

Speculation. Forced Mergers.  Excessive Construction.  Panic. Bank Failures.  This sounds very very familiar.....

FOR MORE CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE, AND PHOTOGRAPHY VISIT

THE CHICAGO LOOP.org

THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO. Shepley Rutan and Coolidge, Howard Van Doren Shaw, Holabird & Root & Burgee, Shaw Metz Associates, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, Hammond, Beeby and Babka, Renzo Piano

.
Today, I stopped in to see the Arts and Crafts "Apostles of Beauty," Exhibit at the AIC. Arts and Crafts has been a part of my design vocabulary for some time - and I was looking forward to seeing a few interesting pieces. A few interesting pieces and then some. This Exhibit placed the Arts and Crafts Movement in a context of time, philosphy, politics, world history, and local events. In a simple sweep it showed relationships between the Industrial Revolution, Japanese history, the Market Crash of 1893, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Louis Sullivan's Stock Exchange. (To name a few) And featured some of the most elegant design ever produced.This Show deserves all stars and all thumbs up for a spectacular collection presented globally, thoughtfully and still directed at its audience. All thumbs up and a special thanks to the Terra Foundation. (No photography allowed in the exhibit)

.

On the way out of the Exhibit I noticed,  for the first time, the remarkable similiarities between Hammond Beeby Babka's Rice Wing central space and Renzo Piano's Modern.  Similarities of size and location place them almost symmetrically balanced on either side of  their  access points  near McKinlock Court.  The main differences, it seems, are that Art is allowed in one space, but not in the other.  And that one has a bridge at both ends of its "organizing" space to avoid dead-ended traffic.  The other does not.  There are, of course, other variations.  To be discussed in future posts.

FOR MORE CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE AND PHOTOGRAPHY VISIT

THE CHICAGO LOOP.org

DANIEL BURNHAM. The Continental and Commercial. Lions

Dwarfed by the buildings that surround it, gutted, damaged, dated, out-dated -- I do not know how it is possible -- that even today, standing on LaSalle Street in front of 208 -- you know you are somewhere very important.

The first clue might be the lions....

FOR MORE CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE AND PHOTOGRAPHY VISIT

THE CHICAGO LOOP.org

DANIEL BURNHAM. The Edison Building. Revelation

I need to finish the sequence of posts about Daniel Burnham's Edison Building. But I'll confess to a little writer's block.

So, on this gray monday I stopped into the Art Institute for warmth and brightness. I wasn't disappointed. A cluster of excited school children stood in front of Caravaggio's Supper at Emmaus. A docent explained Caravaggio's kitchen table Revelation. And his revolutionary technique of painting tableaux vivants directly from life. The Gallery was perfectly lit and without distraction. Except for the adjacent Manfredi depicting Mars punishment of a blindfolded Cupid (whose perfectly rendered, about-to-be-whipped bum was the epicenter of the un-settling composition). The Children moved out and on, followed by three bespectacled Germans. Tourists. Women in their eighties. Caravaggio cognoscenti it would seem, if judged by the nods and murmurs. The shocking contrast of Cupid's bum and Christ's reappearance on Earth was clearly not lost on them.

For a moment, I was left alone in the room, clearly aware that I was in the presence of two silent masterpieces. Revolutionary. Diametrically opposed. Brilliant. Hanging side by side. It was a moment you would pray for, if you prayed. But only comes accidentally. Unexpectedly. Caravaggio's and Manfredi's gift spanning 400 years. I left the Museum through the modern wing. Exited to the solitude of the Nichols Bridge and the Park in the rain. I always have the notion, floating over Monroe Street, suspended, carpet-like, that someone thought it necessary to crush some philosophy or some movement or another with the sheer size and correctness of their modernisme. And indeed they did. Howard Van Doren Shaw's modesty will forever be forgotten. With his understanding that a statement of neither mass nor form, can be the statement of most value.

But excuse the digression. I'm back to the Edison Building. Where I find that I may have the post I was looking for. Daniel Burnham is dead. Not as long dead as Manfredi or Caravaggio, but dead just the same. So is Mies, for that matter. But each has left a record whose value is that it might speak to us from another time. Another place or circumstance. Teach us something new. Fresh. Something we may have forgotten. I like the Edison Building. Like it without logic or just-ification. But the reason for its importance is that it stands among others. Who are loved equally well. And, also beyond reason.

I would hope to find, some years from now, that the Edison Building's base/plinth has been entirely restored, its masonry maintained, and its cornice replaced to match in care and quality the adjacent work at the Marquette Building. And the facade renovations, across the street, at the Federal Center. And that these, together, might stand - for at least another lifetime - in their perfect opposition. Cupid's bum on the Left. Revelation on the Right.

FOR MORE CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE AND PHOTOGRAPHY VISIT

THE CHICAGO LOOP. org

DANIEL BURNHAM. The Edison Building. The Pride of Lions

This is the day that I've decided to start the book "Peirce Anderson in Chicago." Anderson was Burnham's lead designer after 1908, and the design partner at Graham Anderson Probst and White until his death. The idea has been churning for some time, but strangely enough, or proudly, it is the comparison of these three lions that has posed the questions that need to be answered. From Marshall Field and Company (1902) through the Illinois Merchant's Bank (1924) changes, methodical and small brought Peirce Anderson to his position as one Chicago's most influential 20th Century Architects.

Piano Nobile. Agora. Two windows per bay. Three windows per bay. Horizontal window emphasis. Vertical. Ornate stone. Smoothe. Solid Cornice. Balustrade. Each explored and analyzed. All attempted. And shown below: the Lions. At the Edison Building the ring is suspended from an open mouth. At People's Gas the ring is tightly clenched. At the Continental and Commercial National Bank, there is no lion's ring. These are not accidents.

.

The progression shows the same care as a Mies corner, modified almost imperceptibly from the Federal Center to the IBM Building. Just in a different, more distant language. One we may no longer understand. 

FOR MORE CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE AND PHOTOGRAPHY VISIT

THE CHICAGO LOOP.org

DANIEL BURNHAM. The Edison Building. Pilasters

I know that Ron Huberman and the Board of Education are up to their elbows in alligators. But it wouldn't be too much to ask them to start planning a careful masonry restoration program on this very important Daniel Burnham Building. It could take a couple of years just to establish the scope of work and  a hoped-for budget.   And by then the Board just might be back "in the black."   ......and so might we all.
.

These pilasters spring from a line in the sky formed by cornices and lintels that band the top and bottom of the 16th floor. Additional mass is introduced at this level by dropping from 3 windows per bay to two. (That Lions Face gets the additional space.) The dark green curtain wall is pulled back from the building line for depth and shadow. It also gives contrast to the (once) white pilasters. 
.

Nicely done.

With this post I've proven my over-active imagination. Samuel Insull couldn't have wandered the 21st floor of THIS building. Technology and a zoning code that believed the sunlight was the right of every property owner held the Edison Building to just nineteen stories.

VISIT THE CHICAGO LOOP.ORG FOR MORE ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE AND PHOTOGRAPHY

.

DANIEL BURNHAM. The Edison Building ....In the Loggia

The history of Chicago buildings is usually quite clear. And although occupancy and construction dates can vary from source to source, generally, the story isn't too far beneath the surface. The Edison Building, however, seems to have some history. Originally constructed as the Commercial National Bank, it soon thereafter became the Edison Building. It is now occupied by the Chicago Board of Education. This building has ghosts hidden in its extensive remodellings. I imagine Samuel Insull wandering the 21st floor, whistling Puccini and plotting.... And while I'm a dyed-in-the-wool, spot-on, on-message, stick-to-the-facts-please, no monkey-business Architect, I'll be heading to Graceland soon to see Mr. Insull's grave. ....and Peirce Anderson, who appears to have had a major role in the "Edison's" design.

SAMUEL INSULL  President, Chicago Edison

Photo Credit Wikipedia

But today, we consider the Edison Building's loggia. This design may have been a prototype for Burnham's Oliver Building ca 1910 in Pittsburgh (See Kristen Schaffer's "Daniel Burnham, Visionary and Planner" p154.) The loggia is consists of a cornice, arched supports, pilasters, a transitioning base, and a turn-of- the century curtainwall. Below are detailed views of the arches. (Much of the Cornice has been removed).

.
Buildings that have been "intensely" designed, (the Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago, for example) show dimples, dirt, moisture, and bird droppings more easily than less considered structures. The Edison Building suffers this same fate. The facade is in need of restoration. Even Photoshop can't hide the deferred maintenance.

____________________________________________

DANIEL BURNHAM.The Edison Building.......... In the Details

Discussing the variation of theory and reason in Architecture sometimes needs to take backseat to the Architecture itself.    I saw a nasty confrontation on Facebook yesterday between Modernists and Contextualists. (Arghhhhhh -- "The Idiots")   And so today, there is no theory. Only pictures.  Details in stone -- that once generated angry discussion, a not-so-subtle play of politics, un-ending argument, alcoholism, loss, vicious victory (really vicious), and envy -- will today present themselves as simple shape and light, softened with the patina of the century.

Mies said "God is in the Details."  Surely he is mistaken.  Surely, it is the Devil.

DANIEL BURNHAM. The Edison Building. Variations on a Theme

A Play in Five Acts. A Sonnet with patterned rhythm and rhyme. Both allow creativity within a framework. And Variations on a Theme.

The Edison Building is immediately recognizable as a Daniel Burnham Building. Tripartite Design. Classic Details. Monumental Cornice. And home to an important turn-of-the-century Chicago corporation. What is not so obvious to the modern eye, are the variances from one Burnham building to the other. In this case a piano nobile rests on a simple base, not on the ground. Corinthian Columns, flattened at the solid corners support a continuous lintel. Office windows span each bay in groups of threes. The loggia is arched; the Building's surface heavily textured. Each decision was consciously made.

These kinds of arbitrary aesthetic decisions seem foreign to us. Until we look across the street, and attempt to recreate the historical precedents that surround Mies' late mid-century Federal Center, or attempt to follow the decision process that wrapped a steel H-section in layers of fireproofing and cladding to mimmick cladding and structure. Or conclude that black was the only appropriate building color.

The design processes, including the arbitrary decisions made in the name of the current definition of "beauty", remain fundamentally the same.

.

The Edison Building has been much changed. Its towering loggia is now dwarfed by surrounding buildings. The original banking room is gone. And the cornice. And a black band (that once housed a snow-melting heatlamp) wraps the building at the base of the columns. Some column piers have been reduced or relocated. Still, enough remains to give a good sense of what the Building once was -- and what the 1905 definition of "beauty" might have included. Use these links for an historic look at the first floor COLUMN BASE and the ORIGINAL CORNICE.

Laughing, even at myself, I have to admit that Mies was right. "God is in the Details, " he said. I'll be presenting additional details from the Edison Building in future posts.

FOR ADDITIONAL PHOTOS OF CHICAGO'S ARCHITECTURE, VISIT IMAGES IN THE LOOP.

DANIEL BURNHAM. The Edison Building Patterns and the Play of light

I can't shake it.

I keep hearing the echoes of last week's CAF tour guide pointing at the the Art Institute of Chicago, and mumbling something about how bose- zarts has nothing original. Nothing creative.

Below are ornamental patterns from the Conway Building (1913), People's Gas (1910) and the Commonnwealth Edison Building (1905), all designed by D.H. Burnham and Company. The range of pattern is remarkable. Especially when considered that they are used consistently on the intermediate shaft of all three buildings.

I have to wonder if these complex patterns were most important in the designer's mind -- or if the play of light across their complex geometries and its effect on each building as a whole was the raison d'etre.
.

COMMONWEALTH EDISON (above)

PEOPLES GAS (below)

THE CONWAY BUILDING (ABOVE)

.
Daniel Burnham's raison in 1905 was the Plan of Manila. Daniel was about to make it......big time. For the second time. And Peirce Anderson was earning his position as partner in charge of design. Anderson's design influence on the firm becomes unmistakable during this period. Commonwealth Edison clearly bears his signature.


FOR MORE PHOTOGRAPHS OF CHICAGO'S ICONIC ARCHITECTURE VISIT IMAGES IN THE LOOP.

DANIEL BURNHAM. The Edison Building . A Question of Timing

The 20 storey building at 135 South Clark began life as the Commer-cial National Bank. Later it became the Edison Building. It is now the Board of Education. Thomas Hines dates the building to 1905. As does Kristin Schaffer. Frank Randall dates it to 1907, as does the usually reliable Emporis. My well-worn copy of the AIA Guide to Chicago leaves their map blank and provides no information. (A sign of utter distaste). For the purposes of this and the next few posts I will refer to this structure as the Edison Building.

The discrepancy of construction dates is not unusual. Even in a City that says it loves its architecture. It is, however, remarkable for this building: the Edison Building is one of eighteen remaining structures in the Loop designed by D.H. Burnham and Company. Chronologically it falls between Orchestra Hall (1905) and the Field Museum (begun in 1909).

.

.

Despite significant alterations and condition issues, it is an excellent example of Burnham's early Twentieth Century Work. Its tripartite design and attention to detailed ornament are in the Beaux-Arts tradition of People's Gas and The Conway Building.

.

TO SEE ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY OF CHICAGO'S ARCHITECTURAL ICONS VISIT IMAGES IN THE LOOP.

CHICAGO. Architectural Theory

I visited the Auditorium this week and toured the Theatre with one of Roosevelt's very knowledgeable docents. The sixth floor balcony system, partially suspended and entirely separable from the rest of the Theatre is a remarkable piece of engineering. And for me, it was new knowledge. Also new knowledge was the fact that Mr. Form-Follows-Function, our Hometown-Hero Louis Sullivan had applied FAKE ARCHES to the ceiling of the Theatre. It was as if I had discovered that there was no Santa Claus....... FAKE ARCHES.

Today, on a Chicago Architectural Foundation Tour, I learned that Daniel Burnham ("who was a businessman but not a real architect") faked his Beaux Arts Columns. (eg. there was "steel inside." And of course, that was BAD. (Though Sullivan remained GOOD) And then in rapid fire repartee I learned that there was nothing original about the Beaux Arts facade of the Art Institute. Nothing. "You can find buildings like that all over Europe." (BAD) Could it possibly be that our arbiteurs of good taste had made a mistake?

This isn't the first time I've run into this kind of conceptual/historical architectural dissonance. But perhaps with the attachment of the Anti-abortion Amendment to the Health Care Debate and the newfound, heartfelt remorse over our failure to rescue Bear Stearns I have less patience with re-written history and mindless opinion.

At least in Chicago, at least with Architecture, we have what we have and it is all good. Louis Sullivan's glittering arches (structureless though they may be) glitter with a young mind's early attempt with original ornament. Daniel Burnham's penchant for the Beaux Arts resulted in his trust for Peirce Anderson and the stunning row of Ionic Columns at the base of People's Gas. (Not to mention the Field Museum) Frank Lloyd Wright remade Oak Park. Prairie School. Bauhaus. Beaux Arts. Modernism. These are not Oppositions. They are each and all coin in our hands. To be treasured. Respected.

The Restoration of Board of Education Building and the Preservation of Michael Reese are not unrelated issues pursued by opposing forces. And Albert Fleury's classic allegory above the proscenium of Louis Sullivan's stunning stage represents perfect Unity.

.

I've received a couple of notes asking about the slowing of posts to this blog. Apologies are due. But it is also with great pride that I will shortly be announcing the publication of CHICAGO FIGURAL SCULPTURE. Volume I 1871 thru 1923 -- which has taken more time than I could have ever imagined. Take a look, too, at the new photography presentations at Images in the Loop.

On a lighter note, on today's CAF Tour I met DESIGNSLINGER -- in person. And would like to take this opportunity to again recommend their work, with best wishes from CHICAGO AND POINTS NORTH.

Next week, we'll be back on message, with a review of the Com Ed Building.

TO SEE ADDITIONAL PHOTOS OF CHICAGO ICONS VISIT IMAGES IN THE LOOP

PEOPLES GAS. A Personal Context

A Building can be viewed in Historic Context and Perspective. In terms of Symbolism. Or Current Condition. Technology. Style. Detail. Mass. Scale. Proportion. Or Client Aspirations.

But as important as all of these is the Context of the Architect.

In 1908 Daniel Burnham re-organized his firm. And Designer Peirce Anderson came out on top. After years of collaboration or compromise design decisions after 1908 were largely assigned to Anderson. People's Gas "belonged to him." This must have been a period of great optimism for Anderson. His contributions to D. H. Burnham and Company were substantial.

1905 The Plan of Manila
1907 Union Station. Washington DC
1909 Wanamaker's Department Store. Philadelphia
1910 People's Gas Light and Coke. Chicago
1911 The Insurance Exchange. Chicago
1912 80 Maiden Lane. New York

.

And another career awaited with Graham Anderson Probst and White. .... delayed only shortly by The Great War.

Credits are due to Sally A. Kitt Chappell's "Architecture and Planning of Graham Anderson Probst and White"page 173: it is a rare and highly recommended biography of Anderson.

ON VACATION. Thru 10.23

At Batchawana Bay. Boarding the Cottage for the Winter. How can this be?

CHICAGO. Architecture in the Loop

Today's CHICAGO.Architecture in the Loop Post, I decided, really belongs to CHICAGO.Sculpture in the Loop, where it has been posted.

There is mention, there, of Daniel Burnham, Peirce Anderson, Ernest Graham, Larry Perkins and Carter Manny. These Architects have their legacies, with many others. And those of us working in Chicago have inherited their traditions, no matter how distant they may seem or even how little we recognize their contributions.

Working with this Blog I have searched other Cities and watched their Blog communities. Not one, not even New York (not even) compares with what is happening, even now, in Chicago. Not only what we have in scope, but what we also have in teamwork. Chicago Architecture and Cityscape kindly recommended this Blog in a recent post. And now its my turn to return the favor -- Chicago Architecture and Cityscape is a must-see ---and don't just stop with the recent posts. This Blog is a years long commitment, extremely broad in range and scope, to Chicago's important Architectural Landmarks and a remarkable resource to us all.

PEOPLES GAS BUILDING.The Context of Time

Chicago in 1910 was still a largely Nineteenth Century City. Charles Ives Cobb's Federal Center, completed in 1905, stood in the heart of the City. Up the street, Burnham and Root's Great Northern Hotel, built in 1892 still stood at Dearborn and Jackson. And on Michigan Avenue, Holabird and Roche's University Club had just been completed.

.

The People's Gas Light and Coke Building was clearly something new. Different. A change of scale, proportion, and mass, foreshadowing even larger changes to come.

.

For more remarkable photographs of Chicago, visit the highly recommended Daily News Collection of Photographs at the Chicago History Museum. Credits for images above as follows: The Federal Center: Wikepedia. The University Club: Wikepedia. And Peoples Gas: Chicago PC Info (Don't miss this site!)

PEOPLES GAS BUILDING. Lions

The Lion has come to symbolize Power, Dignity, Strength and Will ---- King of the Jungle.
.

.

Looks like the People's Gas Light and Coke Company was making a point.

.

Those Lions would have been originally sheltered by the huge cornice which has long since been removed. Take another look at Pat Sabin's post card image. You can see them posed in their original compostion.

PEOPLE'S GAS. In Defense of Detail

It is true that much of the Detail on the facade of the People's Gas Building is not clearly visible from the street. And that only the broadest sense of design is perceived from a speeding taxi. But when viewed from an adjacent building, the detail is not only clear, it is remarkable. And when viewed from a distance, the logic of composition is also clear. And from that taxi -- it is a memorable blur of columns and light.

Daniel Burnham, and his designer, Peirce Anderson, understood the subtle nuances of scale. A building, (or a masterplan, for that matter) is perceived at a variety of speeds and distances, at a variety of times and during any number of recurrences. And while heavy massing at People's corners may seem without logic while standing adjacent, their statement of stability won't be missed from Grant Park. The delicate and intricate patterns carved into each stone are for the benefit of the neighbors. Not for us down below. Those missing eagles - would have been seen from inside and out. And perhaps noticed only the second or third visit. The list is almost endless. Some examples are shown below.

.

.

It is the lack of detail - any detail - that is my singlemost criticism of most architecture that follows WWII. A building's entire statement is most often a single gesture, understood at first glance. Leaving nothing left to give. Nothing left to learn.

People's Gas, on the other hand, has much to give. And whether it is a gift that is theoretically appreciated or opposed -- or simply considered precious antique -- it is a piece of architecture that speaks directly from turn-of-the-century Chicago and directly from the man who shaped much of what we are, and how we see ourselves.


Well worth a second look, I would say.

PEOPLE'S GAS. Maximized Gross Leaseable Area

"Retail" in the Eighties was HOT.. And the name of the game was maximizing Gross Leaseable Area. (GLA to the insiders). Strip Centers sprouted in the Suburbs. And Lobbies, across the Loop were converted to "Retail Use." Even the first floor of the (then) venerable Continental Bank was "mall-ized." Bay windows (like People's) were added and "punched out" between columns. Space that didn't return cash was "wasted."

There was just one problem. We retail architects knew, even in the 80's, that Retail Architecture was not real Architecture. And with the perfect hindsight of 20 years later, we can see that even some of our best attempts ended in caricature.

Look at the diminished Heart of Peoples' Gas. Elegant wood, nicely detailed storefronts. Considered patterns of terrazzo. Reuse of Peirce Anderson's light fixtures. Columns that recall the original. And a fairly accurate echo of the original skylight -- lowered to the scale of the newly down-sized "court.". And to satisfy "retail users" a forty- five degree angle clip to maximize frontage.
.

The result, however, is a cartoon of the original. A suburban mall. A Disney recreation at three quarter scale. With the final irony being that the destruction of the original interior space, the carefully rendered Heart of the People's Gas Building, has ended in empty storefronts and wasted space. And the conceptual denigration of the entire building.

.

.
Only hints remain of Peirce Anderson's original (below).

.

.

Credits are due to author Kristen Schaffer and photographer Paul Rocheleau for the excellent resource "Daniel H. Burnham, Visionary Architect and Planner. It is highly recommended.