Herr Mies Van Der Rohe

So, yes, firstly, first off, I'm still here. Have just been extremely bad about posting. 

So here are some shots most of you have never seen before (not just since they are my pictures) of The Promontory Apartments in Hyde Park, Mies' first high rise building and the first of a string of distinguished apartment buildings along the Lakefront in Chicago. However, the most similar buildings to these are his residential buildings at IIT which use the same brick and exposed concrete. 

Thanks to Chicago Bauhaus and Beyond I was able to get some interesting interior shots. 

 Service Stairs - the open stairs

are rather interesting.

 Pipe penetration through service

stair landing - rather a nice detail.

 View from western windows to

the west with north wall of south wing

with Jackson Towers, 1700 and

The Windermere beyond.

 Vintage (and abandoned) intercom

control panel at unit entry.

Original Honeywell Thermostat -

each unit has it's own thermostat

for the in-floor radiant heating.

Greystone Demolition in Hyde Park

So I suppose I could write this with a heavy heart, but it's not as heavy as I would have thought - maybe I'm just getting more cynical with age, or is it realistic.

Anyways, these three lovely stone facades will be lost, however, due the condition of the facades and the interiors which were visible once the southernmost unit was demolished, its pretty obvious that they were a losing proposition financially for restoration.




The party walls were penetrated and the upper portions of the parapet and roof of the bay windows were in need of massive work. A shame really because they had nice proportions and detailing, but, unfortunately not everything can be saved. I think if land were not destined for parking it wouldn't be quite so egregious.

Keck and Keck

Well, when it rains, it pours, or as the case may be, it snows. In this case, it's a reminder of upcoming winter as well as showing just how belated I am in posting. Here we have a small complex in Hyde Park by Keck & Keck, two of my favorite architects (who did precious little multi-family, their fame is primarily from suburban, usually solar, villas), whose own ground breaking apartment building is within sight of these elegant (except for the poor choice of, and lackadaisical attitude to [typical for Hyde Park], replacement windows) early 50's apartments.

In their usual fashion, the units have radiant heat and good orientation, as well as a pleasant, tree-lined park like open space which they are grouped around.


I will have to do some future posts on their other multi-family work, their own home, Harper Square Cooperative (their, by far, biggest commision) and their numerous projects for the CHA, primarily senior housing, but also the now unfortunely demolished Prairie Avenue Courts and perhaps some of their townhouse work as well.

More Rogers Park (or the Doors of Rogers Park/Open House Chicago)

A few more shots from Open House Chicago; above we have an entry towards the private park side of Park Castle.

This is the approach to one of the entries at White Terra Cotta extravaganza, Casa Bonita with it's perfectly 20's pollarded trees.

And a closer view... The close up shows the elaborate decor of both the doors and the surround. I hope to get back to photograph the courtyard and front more fully sometime.

So, finally, an update.....

About six months (too) late!(?)

We'll, I've been busy with my own place and a too hot for me summer. But I thought I'd throw out a new posting for you, my loyal reader. This entry focuses on a rather fun little building, a stretched six-flat with a lot of floors added to make it a rather taller building. I suspect that the units are also quite small but designed to give the facade a grander look with the sunrooms at the front.

Lake Meadows

Well, I'm just chock full of posts this month (and week even, in fact). But I just had to post this. This morning I had a great opportunity, the chance to go up on a south side rooftop. So here are the results.As those of you who are intrepid might guess, this was taken from a Lake Meadows rooftop, from the Luxury Building no less (that would be the smaller building closer to Lake Shore Drive, which is the only building which is not rental, has central air conditioning, inset balconies and in addition, a bigger unit mix - i.e. larger units).

Here you can see some of the mix of buildings on the near south side. The distant buildings are the towers of Indian Village - the area of East Hyde Park and Kenwood which was to have been a new streeterville or even Manhattan-esque area. In the immediate foreground there are townhouses and a vintage street (aka gated community), a newer mid-rise complex - early 90s if I recall correctly.
Here is the view south, looking at the simplest of the slab buildings, which are the most pure of the zielenbau of Skidmore's plan for LM. Here is a view of the stereotypical curtain-walled glass towers, with the more recent "infill" townhouses in the forground.
Another view, towards the northwest, with more of the townhouses. Quite frankly, they are an abomination, firstly because of the purity and elegance of the scheme - and the luxurious quality of the towers in the park. But also because of the poorly designed pastiche-laden neo-traditionalism. If they had done modernist housing, ala South Commons, the result would have been much more successful. And looking north towards the loop with Prairie Shores (Perkins & Will) to the left and Michael Reese Hospital (Hopefully long for this world) to the right.

As you may, or more likely, may not know, Lake Meadows was built by the New York Life Insurance Company as an investment. It was also slum clearance and necessitated the Robert Taylor Homes along the Dan Ryan, which was built as replacement housing. It was intended as a mixed-race, middle/upper-middle class development, not a project (obviously). In fact, it became a haven for many members of the black elite, who actually paid more rent than the white residents who were subsidized. It is interesting the see the photos of the mixed-race mixed doubles tennis (no, sorry, the couples weren't interracial) - where else would you have seen black tennis players in the 1950s, let alone two couple of different races playing together?

However, the social exclusion of LM and the slightly, but only somewhat, later Prairie Shores, led even Hizzoner Daley Sr, to commission South Commons as a mixed-income and mixed-race complex, that, however, is a discussion for another time and (another) post (one which talks about the change in aesthetic, as well as social aims and goals of that project, sorry, complex, don't want to confuse things).

The Legacy....

The Legacy at Millennium Park is one of my favorite of the new crop of residential loop high-rises. I didn't think that I would really like it from the rendering and plans, but...
I find that I do. It is quite elegant and particularly dramatic when viewed from the park with it's 72-story, 800+ foot height subtly tapered form. The reflective glass effectively mirrors the sky and some of the surrounding buildings in the right light.

Red Brick Mannerism

Here we have a rather unusual building, which has architectural pretentions, mainly to a Lutyens inspired upper class classicism, or more accurately, mannerist sensibility. It was built, as far as I can discern, in 1913, just before the great war. It has some incredible broken pediments at the entries, and a spare classical vocabulary at the cornices, and even, to some degree, a functionalist expression of the functions of the interior on the exterior - yes, those are real working chimneys and flues on the exterior. It was built as a luxury building with quite ample and even generous, if not ostentatious, accomodation, with an extravagance of interior detailing, and an even bigger luxury for the time, copious provision of bathrooms.

Corner Buildings - Part I

Corner buildings can take many forms and styles, depending on size, lot, neighborhood and class of apartments. And then there is also the question of whether or not one of the streets is a commercial thoroughfare. Then of, then of course, there is the era in which it was built.

Most often, a corner building will be a six-flat with a three or six-flat attached on the side street. Or a nine-flat with a three or six-flat on the side street. In this case, I am referring to the side street as the side which has a unit facing onto it lengthwise. Usually this is an east-west street as well, but not always, of course.

Our first example is a nine-flat with a six-flat to the rear, in deep red brick, with rather more vertical decoration than typical.

Our next example is one with commercial premises on the first floor facing a major street. This has rather art deco inspired trim in orange brick and limestone. Also note the level change; the cornices have been carried through, but the window heights change based on the lack or presence of the first floor commercial space.

In the first photo you can see the first floor commercial space, with four flats above it, with an attached six-flat to the "rear".

In the second photo you can see the change in levels between the two halves of the building. This was skillfully handled here, with continuous cornices and parapet height for both halves of the building. The detailing is simple, yet done in a workmanlike manner, which unfortunately is somewhat marred by the recent addition of through the wall air conditioning units (at least the
radiators were retained).

Our next example is a rather unique looking building, appearing to be rather neo-classically monumental, yet also, to me, somehow more Midwestern arts and crafts than Chicago. Being in the city, however it has many typical features of a corner building, six units on the main street and six on the side street. Yet it still looks to be that it should be in an area outside of the Chicago planning tradition, not quite conforming to the norms - being on a larger than average lot with massive set backs on the main street parkway may have something to do with this impression I think.

Our last photographic example for today (for there will be more) is of a rather misleading building. From the front or short end/side, it appears to be a rather imposing, even imposingly grand, three-flat, facing onto a deep lawn at the wide parkway, necessitated by the large set-back. Yet it is actually a nine-unit building, as evidenced by the side entry servicing a six-flat with the front entry serving what is effectively a three-flat. It has typical arts and crafts decor, unfortunately some of the sun-room windows have been lost, as have the original entry doors.

Lastly, I leave you with a plan of a corner building. This has two sets of unequally sized and non-mirrored, non-identical six flats. Three of the units are one-bedroom flats, while one is a large two-bedroom unit. Interestingly, the larger one-bedrooms face the side street, while the smaller one bedroom apartment faces the main street or avenue.