Category Archives: Midcentury Modernism

Mid-Century Townhouses

Posted on November 13, 2012 by

Rowhouses were the basic building block of many East Coast cities, but (as I’ve mentioned before) the classic rowhouse never really caught on big in Chicago. Here on the open prairie, with the abundant timber of northern Wisconsin in easy … Continue reading →

Posted in building types, Midcentury Modernism | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Peterson Avenue Mid-Century Modernism, Part 1

Posted on August 6, 2012 by

My attention span is like the beam of a lighthouse – narrowly focused, always roving. I write about a topic; it’s out of my head and I’m on to the next thing, and the old topic is over and finished, … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial strips, Midcentury Modernism, Peterson Avenue | 5 Comments

Seed & Sin: Lincoln Avenue’s Motel Row

Posted on May 14, 2012 by

Lincoln Avenue plays host to a large number of independent motels as it runs its northwestern course out of the city, mostly in a stretch between Foster and Peterson, west of Western Avenue. Informally known as Motel Row, this two-mile … Continue reading →

Posted in Midcentury Modernism | 7 Comments

St. Demetrios and the Pod Buildings From Beyond!

Posted on April 30, 2012 by

This is the older portion of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church (1929, 2727 W. Winona), a touchstone of Greek cultural life in Chicago for eight decades: And this is the interior of the sanctuary: It’s nice and pretty and all … Continue reading →

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Gold Coast International Style – Twin Towers

Posted on November 14, 2011 by

Continuing an exploration of the Midcentury Modern apartment towers along Chicago’s lakefront. Lake View Towers – 4550 North Clarendon Avenue – 1970 A scheme used several times along the lakefront involves a pair of similar or identical high-rise towers, with … Continue reading →

Posted in Lake Shore Drive, Midcentury Modernism | 2 Comments

Gold Coast International Style: White Brick Midcentury

Posted on November 7, 2011 by

“We feel it takes the drabness away.”               – Architect Alfred Shaw on his white brick buildings, 1965 New York City has, in recent years, been coming to grips with its Midcentury heritage of … Continue reading →

Posted in Midcentury Modernism | 3 Comments

Purple Hotel on the Wane

Posted on October 17, 2011 by

The unmistakable, can’t-miss-it building at the corner of Touhy and Lincoln has housed a number of different hotel chains over the decades, but it has long been known by its most obvious description: The Purple Hotel. March 2006 Planned as … Continue reading →

Posted in Midcentury Modernism | 14 Comments

Searching for Architecture in Northbrook

Posted on September 19, 2011 by

As a preface to this post, I had written out a fairly long rant about how much I hate suburbs in general, and Northbrook in particular. But my M.O. on this blog is to celebrate, not denigrate, so we’ll skip … Continue reading →

Posted in Midcentury Modernism | 2 Comments

Midwest MidCentury fights

Posted on July 18, 2011 by

I’m duplicating this post across two blogs, because two parallel battles are being fought right now over MidCentury buildings in Chicago and St. Louis. In Chicago, a well-publicized fight has been going on for many months over the fate of … Continue reading →

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Midcentury preservation

Posted on February 28, 2011 by

Talk about your perfect storm for losing a piece of architecture! This building on S. State Street has it all: it’s in a busy area, it’s a retail facade, and it’s Midcentury in origin. It’s slated to be remodeled into … Continue reading →

Posted in Midcentury Modernism | 5 Comments