The Façade by Chipka
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Description
It was hot on the day I heard Tricky singing You Promised Me Poems with his usual, gravely trip-hop intensity. I’d spent the weekend with Corey—as is our custom—and with Tricky in the background we decided to check out the nearby Borders Books. We were in the thick of Spring, and already hints and whispers of Summer’s coming heat were upon us, and so—on the day I heard Tricky singing You Promised Me Poems I decided (with Corey) to seek out new books, and photographic opportunities.
When I returned to Chicago from two glorious years in the Czech Republic, I found myself shocked by the city’s lack of architectural (and sociological) authenticity. After living in an ancient city with wild and conflicting histories, it felt as if I’d stepped on a plane, crossed the Atlantic, and landed in an immense, Chicago-sized movie set. By European standards, everything here is new…nothing bears the patina of age, and in the eyes of a Chicagoan accustomed to Prague, everything seemed to be little more than an ornate façade propped up by an elaborate network of 2X4 support struts. Chicago, I felt, was a city of faces pretending to be buildings—a Hollywood back-lot awaiting the arrival of actors and cameramen.
I mention this because I remembered this building from the lazy day’s I’d spent on the far north reaches of Broadway Avenue; as was my custom in those days, I spent Thursday nights with friends—the Thursday Club, as we’d dubbed ourselves. We were a motley, international bunch of urban adventurers with a taste for milkshakes and rum. We were writers and musicians, would-be animators, and fans of The X-Files back when it was a creepy underground hit that had yet to reach its peak. We were a gaggle of Columbia College artists out to conquer the world, or at least kiss our way around it.
In those days, this building (I don’t remember the name of it) stood on a grungy and run-down stretch of Broadway. It was dangerous—to a degree—to stand for too long in front of it. In the days before digital photography, there were no reasons to linger in front of this massive and ornate puzzle of stonework. It was gray and crumbling in spots. Borders Books did not yet stand across the street from it, though Tricky had already recorded You Promised Me Poems…or was about to. The building—like the nearby Uptown Theater—was a part of the common Thursday Club experience, a part of Thursday’s particular emotional geography.
Corey and I hadn’t met when I was a member of the Thursday Club. He hadn’t been graced with the gravely, off-key voice of one Cyrille Didierjean, burning its way through some Heavy Metal Head Banger anthem with a noticeable French accent. He hadn’t met LaTonya. He didn’t know Pam or Jeremy, Genni, or Cyril—the other Frenchman. There is a chance he’ll meet LaTonya, however, as she lives in Oregon and it’s so short a distance from Washington and Northern California. He and LaTonya are Facebook Friends…and so, some aspect of the Thursday Club may yet re-emerge, phoenix-like from it’s own quiet slumber. But I digress….
It was a hot and muggy Spring day when Corey and I rediscovered Tricky’s hypnotic You Promised Me Poems, and we’d gone to Borders Books and decided to search for enormous burritos as well. When we left Borders, I saw a familiar and comforting building. It was substantially cleaned up and as solid and imposing as anything I’d seen in Prague. It was a comfort, an echo of friendships now slumbering, and the promise of new Thursday Club connections, here in the USA, and also in Prague and in Moscow, in England, and perhaps even Denmark, Finland, and Macedonia. There will be other buildings, and perhaps I’ll photograph them. In Moscow. In Prague: again.
As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting…and a particularly warm thank you for everyone who has presented with such a vivid and fantastic array of Birthday Dedications and well wishes.
Comments (33)
elfin14doaks
I love old ornate buildings. There are a lot of them in Oshkosh I have yet to capture. Somewhere I just need to make the time, as for the birthday wish it was very very very much from the heart. I love this shot.
jocko500
big looking building . wonderful to get a slice of life in the big windy city.
Sepiasiren
OOo B-day wishes--how many birthday whacks do u get? LOL--seriously though love the pic--the clouds and blue-dark in particular ... the details of this old building are very beautiful and awe-inspiring as well, lovely work.
tamburro
Fantastic photo my friend, great colors and lights!!!! Bravo!!!! Hugs:)
NefariousDrO
Chip, you continue to reach beyond me. I enjoy seeing and more importantly reading your wonderful insights more than I can explain.
MagikUnicorn
Magnificent Architecture my friend!
PSDuck
Lovely shot of a building with character! What you had, stepping off the plane, was a form of culture shock. It happens whenever you stay in an older culture, and get used to it, then return to the States. It doesn't matter if you were in Asia, Prague, London... it happens. Welcome to the club. This is not to in any way denigrate the US. We are a young culture. Hence, newer buildings. And not steeped in history hundreds of years old. Unless you know where to look. There are places with deep history, but just not everywhere, and not all are continuously occupied. Nothing looks like Old Prague, for certain! Good photo! Happy Birthday!
tennesseecowgirl
Wow an amazing building.. glad to see they've cleaned it up, it shines now for sure, and the little faces seem to all be smiling down on everyone below. I don't remember seeing this when I've visited, but then there is so much to see and always so little time. Grand work on this.
kgb224
Stunning capture my friend.
MrsRatbag
You've managed to steep this facade in a sense of history and importance, whether it has any on its own or not...beautiful shot!
beachzz
When I saw this at first, I thought, "I saw that building!!" But then I realized that the one I saw was in Savannah, Georgia of all places!! The details and the stonework are incredibly similar; now I'll have to go back and compare the two. Love the off kilter POV as well!!
aksirp
impressive fassade of building you catch it with the golden light, old curtains dismantle the arrogance of the house.. stunning!
minos_6
This is a stunning piece of architecture, and definitely as a European flavour to it, so I can see why it might remind you of Prague. The contrasts in this picture are wonderful - the elegance of the architecture and the warm richness of the stone vs. the starkness of that deep, intense sky, and the makeshift window hangings. The clouds reflections help, and the building has a sense of watching, waiting.... Excellent work!
lick.a.witch
It is lovely how the colours enhance all the details on the facade. Beautiful image. ^=^
whaleman
The ornate and rich design scream an importance which is now lost to unattended interior parts. It seems the interior needs a new life. Nice work!
durleybeachbum
What a wonderful place! That centre column is magnificent!
jclP
Very well done.
helanker
Chip that is a super beautiful facade. So many fascinating details and the golden colors are amazing. And to read was just a joy. Yes, I stole time to read today. LOL !
jmb007
superbe photo!!
flavia49
great shot!! I like this "assyrian-chicagoan" style!!
Charberry
We have such a diverse culture over here with many different peoples coming to settle in the new land that we didn't have time for consistency. I have been to Europe three times, and it is a shock to come back here, even if it was only three weeks, or so. I can imagine two years, in Prague no less. What an extraordinary experience you had.
lucindawind
fantastic building and work
icerian
I love facades in Prague, this is new for me. Excellent work! 5+
wingnut55
good work,a pictorial definition of ornate !
romanceworks
Such an ornate facade ... I rather like it. And belated B-Day wishes to you. CC
sandra46
the mood and postwork are SUBLIME! even if it's an unknown facade, it has a temper, especially with that brooding sky behind. For me Chicago IS in part a place ful of theatrical props, like in Brecht's play on the butcheries, or when the World's Exhibition built the White City and its leftovers became the Field museum.
bmac62
Yes, this photo is meant to gaze at for a long time. Now I wish I was steeped in architectural history so I could name all the styles. To me this looks like an amalgamation of all styles studied by some architect of a hundred years ago. Whatever it is...I appreciate you bringing it to us...and recounted the Thursday Club connections. Old friends, like old buildings are usually worth keeping rather than tearing them down every-so-often and beginning all over again.
jac204
Awesome facade--Great narative to go along with it.
danapommet
It is a beautiful facade Chip. So many styles all in one place. Super study in zoom mode. Dana
auntietk
It's going to take me all night to comment on this, because there's SO much I like about the image! The sky is fabulous. I love the conrast, the light, the shape of the clouds against the building. All that ornate carving, perfectly highlighted by your postwork, jumps out and beg to be stared at! Gorgeous. And I love the faux columns on either side. But that twirly-whirly column in the middle just takes the cake! What a fantastic creation! And the windows with that draped fabric and reflections ... WOW! Those windows alone are worth the price of admission. This is an amazing image. I can imagine how it started out, pre-postwork, and you've done a gorgeous job on this. Top drawer stuff!