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living in the past through photographic documentation of chicago's architecture

it's become impossible to resist my maniacal desire to photograph chicago's cityscape, and that's a good thing. i'm a terribly anxious person in the present, so i counter that by living in the past. in some unexplainable way, i feel i belong there. it's no surprise that my mind'e eye naturally gravitates towards chicago's past, especially when viewed through the city's richly historic architecture. since my camera is a simple and amazingly effective tool for self-guided cognitive therapy, it makes complete sense why i've been more eager than ever to drive around the city aimlessly, capturing everything and anything representing the past.

i haven't developed a systematic or structured approach to photo-documenting chicago, and it will likely stay that way. i want to steer clear from rules and restraints, so i can effortlessly immerse myself in the details of historic architectural building ornament crafted in studios or onsite by chicagoans who have been long forgotten. in some ways, i feel it's a civic duty to share my photographic architectural studies with  all who appreciate  older architecture.

terra cotta facade detail - new masonic building and oriental theater. completed in 1926. rapp and rapp, architects. cannot recall if the terra cotta was fabricated by american or northwestern.

reliance building (1890-1895). cream-colored terra cotta curtain wall designed by charles atwood and executed by the northwestern terra cotta company.

detail of wrigley building's terra cotta clock face detail. the original cedar wood hands were later replaced with aluminum. the facade consists of 250,000 glazed terra cotta panels anchored to the building's steel frame. northwestern fabricated the terra cotta in six shades of white (from blue-white at the bottom to cream-colored at the top). the building was completed in 1921. graham probst and white, architects.

facade detail - carbon and carbide building (1929). burnham brothers (daniel h. jr. and hubert burnham), architects.

through urban remains, and the bldg. 51 museum and archive, i have devoted nearly every waking hour to living in the past, which can be both a blessing and a curse - I might be awestruck over john wellborn root's exterior ornament adorning the rookery, while later witnessing the death of a cottage. it's exhausting and unforgiving most of the time, but the few times where i experience inner-calm, brought about by connecting with the past,  things feel more tolerable, and motivates me to do it all again the next day.

early to mid-1880's "stock" terra cotta with nicely weathered red slip. the lunette was fabricated by the northwestern terra cotta company. this pattern is more common then i previously thought - i'm finding them more often as i continue documenting 19th century multi-story buildings across chicago.

 



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