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logan square buick showroom ornamental plaster ceiling crashes to floor from neglect and abandonment

it didn't take long for a few freeze/thaw cycles to wreak havoc on the bonding agents used to secure the ornamental plaster against the ceiling of a former showroom built for the buick sales building in 1921. the automobile showroom was designed by notable chicago architect clarence hatzfeld, and built by charles lange, costing approximately 250,000 dollars.  without the use of flashlights, the space is an eerily quiet black abyss, but when illuminated the floor is completely concealed by a chaotic collection of neoclassical designed fragments that fell and broke apart. looking up, all that remains are the outlines of where the ornament was installed.

based on early "period" photographs, the dealership's grand showroom was originally bedecked with heavily ornamented bronze and bent glass chandeliers hanging from a renaissance style cast plaster ceiling likely fabricated and installed by the decorators' supply company of chicago. after years of neglect and abandonment the ceiling was discovered in hundreds of pieces scattered across the floor. undeterred, i gathered as many "intact" fragments as possible to create a visual record of any and all design motifs used, as well as a paint analysis to determine color finishes applied from the very beginning when it served as an automobile showroom.

in the coming weeks my attention will be focused on carefully extracting select terra cotta ornament from the former dealership's exterior facade for logan square preservation. any and all of the material salvaged from the "mega mall" will be considered for an upcoming exhibition focusing on logan square's motor row during the "roaring twenties." the exhibit will be a joint collaboration between the bldg. 51 museum and logan square preservation.

more on architect, clarence hatzfeld:

clarence hatzfeld was a prolific chicago architect who designed residences, park field houses, masonic temples, banks and other commercial buildings in the craftsmanprairie, and revival styles. hatzfeld’s early architectural training was “largely in the office of the julius huber, son of architect john paul huber. julius huber was a locally prominent architect who designed many residences in chicago’s edgewater neighborhood. hatzfeld worked for julius huber for several years, was promoted to partner in 1899, and the firm became known as julius huber & co. during this period, hatzfeld became an active member of the chicago architectural club, where he became acquainted with “many aspiring designers who would make important contributions to the burgeoning prairie style of architecture including henry webster tomlinson, hermann von holst, birch burdette long, robert spencer jr., irving k. pond, and dwight heald perkins.”

in 1901, hatzfeld left huber’s firm to work as a draftsman for the chicago board of education, first under head architect william b. mundie, and later under dwight heald perkins, with whom he was already acquainted through the chicago architectural club. under perkins’s leadership, a large collection of earth-toned brick chicago public school buildings were constructed with simple terra cotta details conveying his own distinct expression of the prairie style. among them are carl schurz, cleveland, and tilton schools.

in 1913, chicago’s irving park district hired hatzfeld & knox to design the independence park field house. this represented the first of approximately twenty park buildings that hatzfeld produced in chicago. the building “conveys a strong feeling of classicism through its monumentality, symmetrical layout and broad arched openings. a sense of the prairie style is also expressed through its long horizontal outer wings, broad tiled roofs with bracketed overhanging eaves, rich brick pattern-work, and large shallow concrete urns that were originally located at both entrances to the building." it combined features of earlier field houses that were meant to provide services to poor immigrant neighborhoods and those of private athletic clubs. for instance, it had a branch of the chicago public library and an indoor swimming pool. between the late 1920's and mid 1930's, hatzfeld designed many other field houses including those in: athletic field, avondale, gladstone, kilbourn, thomas jefferson, hollywood park, indian boundary, gladstone, green briar, euguene field, portage, paul revere, and river parks. hatzfeld & knox dissolved in 1915.

along with park field houses, masonic temples also became one of hatzfeld’s specialties. “these tended to be large brick structures with heavy rectangular massing and well-detail facades. for many of such lodges, hatzfeld created fanciful interiors, often relying on specific themes for each room. for instance, his 1921 logan square masonic temple (now the armitage baptist church) originally had a pompeian ball room, american hall, ionian lounge, norman hall, and the egyptian ball room. hatzfeld’s masonic temples include the des plaines masonic hall (now stage one theatre), and the south side masonic temple, and myrtle masonic temple (now korean bethel presbyterian church) which are both extant in chicago.

source : "clarence hatzfeld," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Hatzfeld: accessed: january, 12, 2017.



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