Work of Art by CoreyBlack
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Description
With the possible exception of Al Capone, Eliot Ness, and World-Class political corruption, Chicago is known for its splendid and diverse architecture. In the 173 years since its incorporation, the city has been a home for some of the greats: Sullivan, Wright, Adler et al.
Despite the gentrification and "urban renewal" of the last 50 years (which saw the destruction of countless irreplacable architectural gems from the mid 19th to early 20th centuries) a vast plethora of grand old buildings still exists. Ornate masterpieces that recall a bygone era of vivid imagination and a sturdiness built for the ages. Not only do you see the towering magesty of early skyscrapers standing amid their newer bretheren--like wise elders--but the imagination blows out from downtown into the rest of the city.
In the unassuming Hispanic neighborhood of Albany Park (where I live,) the artistry in stone shows clearly in facade after facade--an amazing variety of intricate detailing, each more florid than the last. The list of subjects includes flying buttresses, latticework, stone flowers and plants, pilgrims, geometric designs, faces, ancient Egyptian motifs, dead presidents, horns-of-plenty, etc...etc. And this is only a single neighborhood in a city with nearly 100 of them.
For lovers of great old buildings, Chicago is still the place to be.
This photo was made in the 3300 block of West Lawrence Avenue at about 7:00 on the morning of December 13th, 2007.
Comments (7)
Sea_Dog
Great work. I love finding these details in old buildings. Sadly they're getting harder to find.
danapommet
So well done Corey. Super sharp and detailed capture. Dana
durleybeachbum
Even the brickwork is exquisite! I for one would be happy to see a long series of this stuff, Corey, before it is lost to us. A superb photo..and I am impressed at the early start!
helanker
A great capture of a very beautiful building. You are right Chicago is beautiful in many ways. Not that I have been there, but I have seen plenty of pictures from there, Also from Mark. :)
auntietk
You could show me stuff like this every day for months, and I'd never tire of it. What a fabulous bit of architectural detail! sigh You make me want to come back ...
Chipka
As they've all said above, the details in this are quite exquisite! Chicago does have quite a few architectural gems and I'm glad that a few of them have remained. Unfortunately blandness rules supreme in the modern Chicagoan's mind and so a lot of this could be lost in the upcoming decades...but that's so Chicago. This is really nice work, incredibly detailed. It wasn't until I really looked at this that I noticed all of the jumbled symbols in this ONE piece of work...faces, shields, wreaths, garlands...everything but the kitchen sink, but I think I simply didn't look carefully enough, there might actually be a kitchen sink in there. This is fantastic work!
myrrhluz
This is wonderful! I love architectural detail! I bought a book called "Subway Style: 100 Years of Architecture and Design in the New York City Subway" (of course, after I was back home from visiting my sister in NYC) It has wonderful images of mosaics and other decorative works in the subway. I'm planning on tracking some of them down when I see her in the spring. This is a beautiful building and your capture is superb! Wonderful clarity and color! I like the color scheme with the dark brick and tan carvings. The littler carving on the left is very pretty too. Even nature adds her bit, with wonderful shadows of the tree! Excellent!