LASALLE STREET. Fraternal Twins

Those twins of LaSalle Street, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the Illinois Merchants Bank are both solid, considered, and thoughtfully designed buildings. They both have a conceptual basis. They are designed to become a part of the "Plan". Despite the "quirks." (See June 27 post below.) Neither, though, could individually "capture the imagination" like the pair. Neither could, individually, call attention to their differences. Separated, Ionic or Corinthian matter little. Together, it seems more than a little odd that the staid Federal Reserve would be assigned those flamboyant Corinthian Columns ... and not the Merchant's Bank. A matter of question or conjecture. A little mystery.

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This corner has made me rethink the value of order. Of symmetry. Of the variations allowable within seeming duplicates and implied order. Would these two buildings be better if they perfectly aligned? I think not. Both Ionic? No. Could just one of Mestrovic's Indians (just up the street) guard Grant Park? Of course not. Would exact duplicates weaken the power of their apparent symmetry? Hmm. Spearman, Bowman, Merchants Bank and Fed.

Staring at the rendered aerial view of Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan for Chicago (for the gazillionth time) I again notice that the Randolph Street Pier is not exactly the same shape as the Pier Planned for 12th Street. That the Chicago River curves and splits and plays in counterpoint to the gridded streets. Remember that the Field Museum is slightly off-angle from Soldier Field. And consider the possibility that the Beaux Arts tradition in Chicago could be significantly more nuanced than I had previously considered.
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Credits are due for use of the image above, of course, to Daniel Burnham.

LaSALLE STREET. at Jackson Boulevard

I've been looking forward to writing about this corner of LaSalle Street ever since posting Union Station. This, I thought, was the intersection of the Sedate and the Symmetrical. The ultimate triumph of Peirce Anderson and Daniel Burnham. Where Classicism is unquestioned and axial relationships dominate. I've been back to this corner often during the last few weeks. And with each visit I see that the intersection becomes more complex. Conflicted. Imperfect. Exciting. And nearly impossible to photograph.

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This is a canyon of light and dark, where sun reaches the furthest corners only in June. And only then, shows us what we could not know. The porticos of the Illinois Merchants Bank and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago do NOT align. The centerline of the Chicago Board of Trade is NOT the centerline of LaSalle Street. The frame is NOT symmetrical. To the left the Merchants Bank is flamboyant. Ionic. And to the right, the "Fed" is staid, and uncharacteristically Corinthian. The Greek Temples ironically frame nothing at ground level.

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But the Chicago Board of Trade uses their simple flanking masses to accent its visual dominance of the skyline at the foot of LaSalle Street. This is the moment when Deco prevails over neo-classicism. It looks like a "sucker punch" to me. And the allegorical Statue of "Industry" below disappears from LaSalle Street for some 80 years, replaced at the Door by the Deco Eagle.
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I particularly like this gentle work by an unknown, perhaps German, sculptor. "Industry" is no idealized allegory. She is a beautiful woman and the Sculptor knows her. And I am very pleased that she has returned to LaSalle Street after having gone missing for so long, along with her fat sister, "Agriculture."
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The story here will be one of details, though many are lost after only 80 years. But a first clue is "1924 "(caught by accident with my good telephoto on an ionic column of the Illinois Merchants Bank).
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Indeed, the story "is in the details".
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CHICAGO PHOTOS are available for purchase at IMAGES IN THE LOOP.

LaSALLE STREET. LaSalle at Jackson

There are special places in Chicago. The Marshall Field and Company Building on State Street. Union Station. The Field Museum. To name just a few. And of course, the foot of LaSalle Street at Jackson Boulevard. Each of these hold an undeniable attraction. And a few things in common. First, they all conceptually embrace Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan for the City of Chicago. Second they all seem to "fit" . ((Here at LaSalle Street and Jackson Boulevard cornices and ornament align. Most buildings are of comparable height and style. The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago symmetrically faces the Illinois Merchants Bank to frame LaSalle Street's axial terminus at Jackson Boulevard.)) And third, and surely most important, each location exhibits the lifelong dedication to both Burnham and Beaux Arts design pricinples by GAP&W design partner, Peirce Anderson.

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Below is Board of Trade building designed by William Boyington in 1885 that was to be demolished for the new structure on the site that could complete the Burnham Plan at the foot of LaSalle Street.

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There was no place else in Chicago that had the potential for so completely fulfilling the visual component of Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan. Matching cornice heights, comparable building heights, neo-classic detail and contruction to the lot line predominates. In the immediate vicinity, The Insurance Exchange (1912), 208 South LaSalle (1914), the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (1922) the Illinois Merchants Bank (1924) all buildings designed by Graham Anderson Probst and White, set and framed the stage for the new Board of Trade Building to be commissioned in 1925. The new Board of Trade could complete the vision. Below is GAPW's rendering of the proposed structure.

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But in 1925, the Board of Trade commissioned Holabird and Roche -- whose interest clearly was not being "part of a plan". They were about to construct the tallest building in Chicago. Above is the new Board of Trade Building photographed at street level. Anderson died on February 10, 1924. Hopefully, he never knew what had been lost.

Credits are due Sally A. Kitt Chappell for the LaSalle Street Rendering shown on page 46 of her really excellent work ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING OF GRAHAM ANDERSON PROBST AND WHITE. And also http://www.patsabin.com/illinois/trade.htm -- a great Chicago website of postcard images and renderings. See the Three Eagles of LaSalle Street at CHICAGO SCULPTURE IN THE LOOP

CHICAGO PHOTOGRAPHS are available for purchase at CHICAGO IMAGES IN THE LOOP