By Bob Pratt, Class of 2019
We docents like to find threads to pull together on our tours and cruises—connections and comparisons. That’s part of our training, as well as our natural inclination. Sometimes the threads are essential and serious, sometimes they are pure entertainment.
It occurred to me that the concept is broad enough to include connections between Chicago and places I’ve visited in recent years. For example, while we think of the urban skyline as a modern phenomenon, the skyline of the small town of San Gimignano, Tuscany, Italy, was more extensive in medieval times than it is today. Some 14 towers (as tall as 200’) remain of the 72 that existed before neighboring Florence invaded and lopped off the tops of most of them.
Similarly, why not pair a recent photo of one of Chicago’s prominent Beaux Arts style buildings with a picture of the atrium of the Beaux Arts school in Paris—the intellectual source of that style? Or compare the ground-floor façade of 77 W. Wacker Drive, designed by Barcelona-born architect Ricardo Bofill, with a picture of the façade of the Royal Palace in Naples, dating back to a period of Spanish control? Roman brick is well-preserved in Rome’s Colosseum and the ruins of Pompeii, but the Roman brick of Chicago’s storied Mecca apartments (1892) fell to the wrecking ball in 1951. Mies’ Crown Hall now occupies that site.
The photos are mine, with the exception of two attributed to others. Photos are arranged in eight pairs, with the Chicago photo on the left.
I hope this photo essay provides you with some docent-style entertainment for the New Year!
Skylines
Above left: Chicago 19th-21st century buildings
Above right: San Gimignano, Italy, 11th-13th century towers (right picture)
Cosmati Impresses and Expresses
Above left: Chicago Cultural Center, Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, 1897
Above right: Duomo di Ravello, Italy, circa 12th century (Jonah and the Whale)
Ricardo Bofill Borrowing a Theme
Above left: 77 W. Wacker Drive, Ricardo Bofill, 1992
Above right: Palazzo Real, Naples, D. Fontana
1616 Terra Cotta: Timeless and Capable
Above left: Reliance Building, Burnham & Root, 1895
Above right: Happy couple’s sarcophagus, National Etruscan Museum, Rome, circa 530 B.C.
Roman Brick: Enduring, Essential, Ephemeral
Above left: The Mecca, Edbrooke & Burnham, 1892; photo by Wallace Kirkland, the LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images, 1951, just prior to demolition
Above right: Colosseum, Rome, 80 A.D., still standing
Beaux Arts: Going to the Source
Above left: 35 E. Wacker Drive, Giaver & Dinkelberg, 1926
Above right: Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts, Paris, Felix Duban, 1830
In-Spire-Ation
Above left: Illustration of Spire Tower Chicago from Santiago Calatrava website
Above right: Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Rome, Orazio Grassi, 1650
Stranded Columns, Without Structural Purpose
Above left: Soldier Field columns diminished by new stadium, 2003
Above right: Forum, Pompeii, Italy, buried in Vesuvian ash, 79 A.D.
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These are wonderful pairings! And it is motivation for me to look more closely when I travel too! Thank you for taking the time to put these together.
Oh! How much fun, Bob. Thank you so much for these pairings. As Joan said, it’ll make us look at things differently now. I’d love to see more. Thanks again
So interesting and a great take on then and now. Thanks
Love the humor, Bob; thanks!
I love this Bob! Thanks for sharing!
Great fun Bob, and great pictures! Thanks for the food for thought 🙂
Great idea and great pairings!
Ditto to what everyone else has written!
Thanks for your wonderful group of pairings!
Since we all steal good ideas from each other, I’ll use your Roman Brick pair of photos to show when I give tours showing the exterior of the Robie House and other Roman Brick buildings in Chicago.
Bob Michaelson
Interesting, fun approach, Bob! When I refresh for next year’s tours, I’ll keep this approach in mind, and see if I can incorporate relevant pairings, plus to encourage my tourees to consider what pairings they can devise, too.
Lovely connections! Thank you.
thanks, interesting comparisons
What fun! I’m still scrolling to revisit many of your pairings. Astounded most are your own photos. Undoubtedly from a vast collection. Eager to see your next pairings; surely you’ll give us more. Thanks!