PEOPLE'S GAS. The View from the Bridge

In 1917, Peirce Anderson listed what he considered to be the principal examples of his work. They included the Equitable Building in New York; Union Station, the Post Office and the Columbus Memorial in Washington DC; the Plan of Manila; and in Chicago, Union Station, the Continental and Commercial Bank, and the 1910 PEOPLE'S GAS LIGHT AND COKE COMPANY at the southwest corner of Michigan Avenue and Adams. (If that were ME talking I'd include Marshall Field and Company and the Field Museum, too. But, Peirce was known for his modesty.) The earlier buildings were completed with D.H. Burnham and Company. The later buildings, with Graham Anderson Probst and White.

One of the best views of People's Gas is from the Nichols Bridge, near the entrance to the Art Institute's third floor dining room (on top or their new addition, behind the main building). The Bridge allows a spectacular view of the Michigan Avenue Wall, and in particular, the People Gas Light and Coke Building. (See the view below.)

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1908/1909 would have been pretty exciting times in Daniel Burnham's office. Ed Bennett and Daniel were completing the Plan of Chicago. Peirce Anderson and Daniel we preparing designs for the People's Gas Building, and wrapping up the plaza improvements for Union Station in Washington. Burnham's office at that time was in the Railway Exchange Building, overlooking Grant Park. Those lean years of the mid nineties were all but forgotten.

FIELD MUSEUM. A Few Quiet Surprises

It is easy to look at the Field Museum and become taken with THE BIG STUFF: axis, plinth, symmetry, size, columns (Ionic), and caryatids. But there is a secondary level of exterior detail, that once encountered, is not forgotten. Around the corner from the Porch of the Maidens a simple row of windows takes on a quiet, almost residential scale. Window frames are not simple coves or ogees, they are covered with considered ornament. Windows near the north and south porticos are small, elegant, deeply inset, finely divided.

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It is apparent that this is the work of an accomplished designer, who has matured with his own portfolio. Think of Peirce Anderson's career to date. The masterplan of Manila with Daniel Burnham. Marshall Field and Company. Union Station in Chicago. And Washington DC. (Not to mention the Post Office). He is about to start the Equitable Building in New York. And the great banking rooms in Chicago. He is 41 years old as construction begins on the Field. I can't help but admit, I'm a little jealous. And still, there was time to consider rams heads on the flagpole.

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UNION STATION.Facade

A remarkable building is easy to photograph. These images almost "took themselves." My only regret about the building (other than deferred maintenance) is that it doesn't have the height it deserves. But maybe there is a future. (See the mar/apr issue of Chicago Architect, page.27).

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Above: The coffered ceiling of the East Colonnade

Below: The West Facade
Below: Sidewalk view at the West Facade

I was in the first class to graduate from the University of Cincinnati that did not have to render Ionic, Doric and Corinthian column capitals in watercolor wash - something I now consider my loss. We were taught, however, that every good piece of architecture considered Balance, Rhythm, Unity, Mass, Proportion and Scale. And regardless of style or vocabulary, I believe those considerations can contribute to good architecture. And that some components of Peirce Anderson's solution for Union Station's facade are very good architecture, indeed.

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UNION STATION Survives

The concourse has been destroyed. The baggage and cab tunnels have been barracaded. The women's waiting room is closed. And the lunch room. Symmetrical axes are broken. Ticket desks relocated. Below are the small and altered remains of the train sheds.
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And, still, the Waiting Room soars. Above is the skylight at dusk. The "Tippecanoe" is boarding at Gate 5.

UNION STATION. BRASS

Union Station appears to be a large, but simple building. It is not.
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Designed by an electrical engineer, with a reputation for water colors, holding a certificate from the Ecole des Beaux Arts, it originally consisted of a Concourse and train sheds that were primarily structure and skylight with Classic Elements, and a Waiting Room that is primarily Classical with a structural skylight. The appearance is stability. It is surrounded by motion. The space is vast. The detail is spectacular. "Aesthetics" was seemingly given the upper hand. But its multi-level concept and function clearly came before form.

The Building is best understood slowly. At varying times of the day and season. When light filters into the vast Waiting Room and discovers detail. My first impression of this building is the astonishing care of detail held in sunlight and shadow.

Above are details from Brass Lamps and Sconces in the Waiting Room. Clearly, the City had arrived.