Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Our last USA blog...
Start the day with a friendly encounter with a cool Chicago bus driver.
Train back into the city for an Art Deco walking tour.
That's nice, the 1904 Art Nouveau style Sullivan Center, formerly known as the Carson Pirie building designed by Louis Sullivan. Did I mention that sullivsne was Frank Lloyd Wright's first boss?m
But it's not Art Deco.
Cannot resist photographing these Chicago elevated railways.
A spot of breakfast
So what is Art Deco?
It refers to a style that developed the between the two World Wars, a mix of styles from the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Think Hercule Poirot, think streamlined, strong geometric lines, bold vibrant colours, simple shapes that celebrate the rise of commerce and technology. Art Deco influenced fashion, jewellery, cars, trains, graphics and homewares and of course, architecture. Chicago's Jazz Age architecture was simply called Modernistic when it was created in the 1920s, and Moderne as it evolved into the Swing era of the 1930s.
Our docent leads us to several Art Deco structures.
First stop, the 1930 Chicago Board of Trade building at 141 W Jackson Boulevard. This 45 story building was the tallest in Chicago until 1965.
The clock on the front of the building depicts an Egyptian holding grain and a Native American holding corn. Important symbols of trade.
Look right up to the top of the building...
There is a 9.5 m tall statue of the Roman goddess Ceres (from where we get the word cereal) in reference to the exchange's heritage as a commodity market. She is faceless because her sculptor didn't expect any building would be as tall or that my digital camera lense would be able to tell.
The facade is highly decorated with all manner of agricultural motifs.
An so to is the interior. The Elevator lobby
Lobby mailbox
The lobby inside the Board of Trade
Classic Deco light fitting
The 1930 One North LaSalle Building or One LaSalle Street Building
Polished brass entry doors
Geometric brass fenestration detail
An air grille in the entry lobby
Lobby ceiling light
The elevator lobby
Wall lights in the elevator lobby.
A rendering inside the lobby
Thank you Alexandra for organising the Art Deco tour.
And now for something completely different.
The extremely pared back minimalist glass-and-steel 1974 Chicago Federal Center designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. 3 buildings arranged around the Chicago Federal Plaza.
Steel mullions of projecting steel I-beams painted black.
Alexander Calder’s ‘Flamingo’ sculpture in the Federal Plaza provides a beautiful counterpoint to Mies’s muted, linear buildings.
We must head for home and the airport but there is always time for one more witnessing cart.
And lunch. I just had to have a hamburger in Chicago, the city that claims to be the origin of the this famous round meat sandwich. Not bad at all.
And so our USA odyssey came to is end.
And we hugged our new friend Cindy farewell at the airport.
Thank you to all of the friends that made our trip so special and memorable.
And thank you to Hajime and Aki for inviting us to be part of your amazing Gilead graduation. It's taken us so long to complete this blog that you are already settling into your missionary assignment.
Finally the USA blog is complete!
Lloydnalex
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