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.

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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.
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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.

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

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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.

PEOPLES GAS. Light Fixtures and Lions.

I'm not quite sure how Peirce Anderson was able to incorporate state-of-the-art electrical fixtures in a vaguely French Beaux-Arts Office Building that housed the largest public utility company in the country, and still evoke the "Glory of Rome."
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But he did. This while Louis Sullivan designed a local bank in Owatanna. And Frank Lloyd Wright ran off to Europe (in hopes of avoiding scandal) with Mamah Borthwick.

PEOPLE'S GAS. Electric Lights and Decorative Panels

In 1893 Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse introduced Alternating Current to Chicago and the World by using it to power Chicago's Columbian Exposition. Just 17 years later Peirce Anderson (an electrical engineer himself) used lighting as a design element of the new People's Gas Light and Coke Building.

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Today, we take lighting for granted as a component of a building's design. In 1910 it would have been remarkable. But what could have been better advertising for People's Gas Light and Coke than a building on Michigan Avenue that lit the night -- especially when viewed from a horse-drawn carriage. The world was about to be a very new place.

Take a look at the Encyclopedia of Chicago for a "take" on electric lighting in 1908.

PEOPLE'S GAS BUIILDING. Indignities of Age

A close inspection yesterday of the bay windows at the People's Gas Building showed significant general deterioration of base, sill and cap. Two kinds of stone irregularly meet the sidewalk.... Also possible modifications of the enclosure are indicated at the entry doors.... Multiple storefront frame types and materials....

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I had previously assumed that the Bays at People's Gas were original and an obvious reference to earlier Burnham Buildings. They are not. (They had me fooled. I have some retracting to do....in a later post).

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People's Gas Bay Windows are not original to the building. They are a later addition. A closer look at existing construction detail and the original floor plan revealed this and more. The revolving doors are not original either (of course). Their location in relation to the building line is altered. The Adams Street entrance has been removed and is now occupied by Patty Burger. The original interior space is gone, replaced my some "maximized retail gross leaseable area." These, and deferred maintenance issues complete the "diminished" character of the People's Gas Building I referenced in an earlier post. Summarizing:

1. The huge cornice "cap" is gone.

2. The Loggia that once overlooked the City is surrounded and dwarfed by newer structures. Columns with delicate capitals and highly ornate flutes and swags have been replaced with yellow brick.

3. The masonry of the building's Body has been significantly discolored by airborn dirt and moisture.

4. Painted Metal Panels meant to emphasize both loggia and colonade have faded.

5. A deeply recessed line of storefronts, which would have allowed the building to "float" on those massive ionic columns has been pushed outward, their protrusion is highlighted with applied signage. The entrances, whose deeper recess would have "keyed" their visual location have also been brought forward.

6. The columned, skylit interior space has been "downsized" and is no longer scaled to the building, no longer adds to its depth or richness. (What happened to the brass lamps?) And is no longer visible through a line of plate glass windows from Michigan Avenue.

7. Electric Lighting as an architectural element is now commonplace. People's light fixtures would have been a remarkable site when viewed from a horsedrawn carriage.

7. And then, there are those Missing Eagles. With corporate restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, this Building along with many others (particularly of the early twentieth century) is no longer broadly associated with the with the men who built it. It is no longer a building and a symbol of power and accomplishment. It is simply, a building.
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I have photographs documenting each of these problems, but have decided not to post them. Instead I hope that you can allow your imagination to visualize the original Building, (take another look at that Pat Sabin postcard) and understand why Peirce Anderson, the most powerful and prolific Architectural designer in Chicago for nearly 20 years listed People's Gas Light and Coke among his most important accomplishments.

Credits for the Floor Plan to Kristen Schaffer's DANIEL H. BURNHAM, Visionary and Architect,

which is considerably more than a coffee table book.

PEOPLE'S GAS BUILDING. In Context

The People's Gas Building was meant to be the "Big Boy on the Block." From this photo it looks like "mission accomplished." The loggia, which looks somewhat arbitrary on today's skyline, literally overlooked the City in 1910. Corporate offices in the upper stories would have been spectacular. (Except for the smoke) And the cornice certainly befits a utility company with aspirations to be the largest in the world. People's only competition for prominence on the street was the Railway Exchange, and the half-completed McCormick Building.
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We all talk about the change of scale we're facing today with the "supertalls". In the early 1900's Chicago went through a similar transition. The Ward Tower (a little to the north) looks almost delicate. And Sullivan's Auditorium (to the south) which was the tallest building in Chicago and the largest in the country is dwarfed. .
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I have always felt that this Building has been somehow substantially diminished. I attributed it to difficult repairs and renovations. (More on this to follow) But looking at the full impact of this structure in its original context, I realize that I entirely misjudged what I was seeing. People's Gas was the biggest and best that 1910 Chicago had to offer. And the resources were significant.

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Credits to PatSabin.com and that incredible postcard collection. And wikepedia.

PEIRCE ANDERSON. CLASSIC ELEMENTS IN MODERN BUILDING TYPES. Union Station. Field Museum. People's Gas

First and foremost, when analyzing PEOPLE'S GAS, the FIELD MUSEUM, or UNION STATION, we must remember that these structures are Twentieth Century Building Types, using state of the art technology. The reason they exist today is that they were all soundly planned and constructed. These buildings are not just outdated antiques -- although at 100 years, they qualify as such. All these, incidentally, were designed by Peirce Anderson. In addition to an Engineer's mentality, (Harvard. Electrical Engineering. 1894) Peirce Anderson, Design Partner at Graham Anderson Probst and White had the uncanny ability of applying the elements of Classic Architecture to Modern Building Types in such a way as to truly recall the "Glory of Rome." He did this so well (and with such huge popularity) that Louis Sullivan published his famous Banker's-Toga-Rant in Kindergarten Chats. Architects love the "rant" to this day, but it did nothing to stop those Bankers from hiring Anderson to design the Fed and the almost astonishing interior banking space at the Bank of America. (If you ever have the opportunity to take a look at the great banking room at this LaSalle Street Institution- you should take it.) The combination of Anderson's training as an engineer combined with his later Beaux-Arts education in Paris was unstoppable. Carrying the Architectural Legacy of Daniel Burnham didn't hurt either.

The best way to enumerate classic elements is, simply to look at them. (Listed below are multiple Posts with some interesting views - looking at the Field Museum, in particular, helps with Union Station) (I'll recommend here, too, a copy of Sir Bannister Fletcher) Columns, of course. Coffers, Arches, Keystones. Plinths. Acroterion. Caryatids. Eagles. Symbols and themes (note prevalence of the backward Swastika.) Barrel Vaults. (Be careful here - the Barrel is truly Roman but the application of steel frame and glass is completely "modern") More complete constructs include the loggias (steel columns and beams allow them to overlook the City some 20 floor up) and colonnades (punctured with plate glass and bay windows ala John Root). You can also see clear references to the Erectheum, the Baths of Diocletion, the Agora and even the Temple of Mausolaus (Credit George Beersman for carrying this to completion).

Although there are many classic references and reinterpretations (Anderson was a fan of Latrobe) in all these buildings, my particular favorites are the Classic Allegorical sculptures that flank the concourse entry at Union Station. No Goddess Janus here, seeing past and future, it is Henry Hering's interpretation of "Day" and "Night." With binoculars you can see that in addition to the owl/rooster reference, Day's eyes are wide open. Night's are closed. This level of subtlety is not isolated. It is repeated again and again in a perfectly detailed architrave, the turn of a corner that would earn the respect of Mies, and in those little squirrels, hiding among the grapes on the light fixtures that glow perfectly at dusk in a skylit hall.

UNION STATION. Another Question of Scale.
UNION STATION. Waiting Room Access.
UNION STATION. Brass.
UNION STATION. Survives
UNION STATION. Facade

FIELD MUSEUM. Site. Symmetry. Scale. Size
FIELD MUSEUM A Few Quiet Surprises
FIELD MUSEUM And Style.
FIELD MUSEUM A Look Inside
FIELD MUSEUM Unexpected Vaults, Arches, Modified Pendentives
FIELD MUSEUM Coffers. Keystones. Acroterion.
FIELD MUSEUM Ornament
FIELDMUSEUM The NorthPortico

Credits are given to Salla A. Kitt Chappell's ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING OF GRAHAM ANDERSON PROBST AND WHITE, and to Thomas S. Hines BURNHAM OF CHICAGO.