MERCHANDISE MART

Yesterday a friend and I went to the Merchandise Mart, an easy walk from the train stations, on the north side of the river at Orleans St. Apart from what's in it, this is quite the impressive Art Deco building. Just to stroll its immenseness, to take in the ceilings, the exquisite bronze work on the doors and elevators, to walk the beautifully patterned floors, is a tour all by itself. It is in wonderful shape.

But we went for two things there now, the Buckminster Fuller exhibit, and the Dream Home rooms, both free. The Fuller exhibit is right inside the south door; you can't miss it. In case you don't know who Buckminster Fuller is, he was the man who designed all those geodesic domes as houses. My friend even knew of one in a Minneapolis suburb.

This one Fuller called "Fly's Eye Dome" because it does indeed resemble the compound lenses of a fly's eyes, as you can see. This is synthetic, stands 24 feet tall, made of 50 fiberglass sections, weighs 3,500 pounds, and is held together by about 1,050 stainless steel bolts, very visible. White outside, dark blue on the interior. These were supposed to be affordable, prefab homes, but I can't imagine living in one, although my friend said the one she knew was much larger. The huge holes are supposed to be filled with fiberglass windows. I suppose in a very private rural setting it might work.

But you can simply take it in for what it is here, a piece of sculpture. And walk inside if you want. Architecture and art.

As for the Dream Home rooms, the idea that anybody in their right mind would actually consider living in any one of these I find absurd. Over the top is an understatement. Although the bathroom was not toooo bad, I guess. All black and beige and ecru and bland, blah blah. Not to my taste at all. But like I said, it's free, and if you go, the woman at the door will give you a pass to many of the upper showroom floors, so you can browse them too. One floor was all it took for us, same-o, same-o. Although one item did catch our eye, a magnificent desk for the artist, architect, designer, to the tune of $14,000.

I can recommend Blue Fin, the restaurant right across the lobby from those rooms. We lingered there for some hours. Great food.

ODDS AND ENDS

I am back from Lyon, and it was a wonderful trip. Well, how can you go wrong in France? But this blog is about Chicago, so I thought I might just add a few places to go that you might not have seen yet. First off is the Holocaust Museum in Skokie. I went there before I left, mainly to see the architecture, which is strange. One half of the building is black, one half white, and even more odd, it faces into the side of the hill creating the Edens Expressway, so that you cannot even stand back to really take a good look at it. It is the rear of the building that faces the parking lot, and little of that there is too. I took no pictures, it was a cold rainy thoroughly nasty day when we went. Inside,, at least during this first opening week, there was mostly nothing but videos, interminal videos, three hours worth, viewed one at a time at different stations throughout the museum. Granted they were hugely interesting, but after three hours my eyes were blury. And all the while we were standing. Personally, they could take all those short videos and turn them into one documentary that would be terrific.

Perhaps that was just opening week problems, and that by next year things will have gotten better. Although I fear the architecture is here to stay.

On the same day that I saw the fountain behind the AI finally working again, and I have posted pictures in the appropriate number for that piece of public art, I went to see the Art Institute's new wing and bridge, and all that. Unbeknownst to me, it was free day last Wednesday, and in fact all week, and let me tell you, the entire free world was there!!! And that's great! They were milling all over the place, and actually looking at the art. I saw people looking and studying pieces that most of us just pass by on our way to something else, me included. I even tried to get away from the masses in the farthest place I know, the glass paperweight room in a sub-basement, but they had discovered that too. We all love art, it seems; humanity has that much in common at least. Too bad it's so pricey, both to see and to own.

But the new Modern Wing is not really quite what it seems, for at least 50% of it is devoted to the new Education Center. It is huge, with three enormous classrooms, full of light from long, tall windows, plus smaller rooms and storage and workspaces, stuff. I was quite impressed. The main part has only added to the display space by about 30%, but that is a third and nothing to snivel at. Again, lots of natural light. I loved the main hall. But the bridge is something else again, I ventured out on it from the third floor and after a few feet, once I hit the end of the building, it started to wobble, like a suspension bridge. Although it was full of people coming and going, that was enough for me. I am not good with heights or wobbly bridges. Blair Kamin, the architectual critic for the Chicago Tribune mentioned this wobble, but he talked about it as only being in the middle. I suspect he crossed it when it was somewhat empty, not loaded with visitors.
But go for yourself. Better yet, get a membership, it's not very expensive, and for a single one, you can still take a guest and see all the extra shows; you can go any day the Museum is open. If you and a guest go two or three times a year (but go more often) it will have paid for itself. Needless to say, I love our Art Institute, go once a month, and never find it boring, although they do need to change the menu in the outside garden restaurant once in a while.

CHICAGO PUBLIC ART # 24 - CLOUD GATE-2004

On the same glorious day that we went to Buckingham Fountain, we first went to the now practically world-famous "Bean".

Done by Anish Kapor, it is sited in Millenium Park on Michigan Avenue between Madison and Monroe Streets. Just look for the crowds. I might add that we ate lunch at The Park Grill, right under "The Bean" and were pleasently surprised, both at the quality of the food and the prices. I can heartily recommend the hamburger and their fries, which were terrific, and I don't much even like fries.

Artner: "This 21st Century equivalent of a grand ceremonial arch or gate to an ancient city additionally reflects the heavens and some of Chicago's important architectural legacy. (The work is popularly - and foolishly - nicknamed the Bean."

Now I had seen this a zillion times and never once saw it for what it really is, an arch, a gateway to our city. And that makes so much sense when you look at it, really look at it, disregarding the reflections and hordes of people. It gives it so much more stature and importance to me. Yes, it does look like a bean, there's no denying that, but the real title "Cloud Gate" fits it better. It is a gate that reflects the clouds.
A gate to our wondrous city.

CTA BUS ROUTE #6 - JACKSON PARK EXPRESS

A while ago, because it's been so long since I did a bus route (I see it was over two months ago), I decided to just set a date. Do the 6th route on April 6th and marked it on my calendar. Wouldn't you know the morning dawned with wet, heavy snow over all the tree branches, looking beautiful, but also looking like early March. "Ah well," I said to myself, "I won't be gardening today anyway." So I caught the 10:13 train into the city (sans breakfast, but with plenty of coffee to fortify me, and a peanut butter on raisin toast in my purse). Weather prospects - cold, windy
And a rather non-informative bus sign, wouldn't you say?

The cold, green river today.

This bus departs from Wacker and Columbus (and do the CTA people realize that there is both an upper and a lower Wacker and Columbus?). Because it is not at all clear on the map that this bus departs from the upper level. Basically in front of the Swiss Hotel. It travels via Lake Shore Drive to 79th and South Shore Drive.
Fortunately I guessed right as to the departure area, because, yes, it was damn cold and windy, espceially right down there by the river and lake. I was remembering the time I had finding the start of that #4 bus.

Looking east, above. And the Seventh Day Adventist Church which rounds its corner nicely on Wacker.
11:40 am - I'm on the bus . It crosses Michigan going west on Wacker to State, where it turns south. I see that Leonard Cohen is coming to the Chicago Theatre May 5th and 6th. Past the DePaul Loop campus. And what could be more famous than the Marshall Field Clock, above?

It is crowded somewhat by Congress. There are police cars back to back next to the bus at a stop light. Left on Balbo. The South Loop Club is on the corner, a fab building which looks interesting. Past the Merle Ruskin Theatre, part of DePaul now. Across Michigan, south on Columbus to 11th, where it now becomes an express to 47th Street down Lake Shore Drive. Past the Museum Campus and Soldier Field, that space ship in the sky. It is going entirely too fast for pics, drat. Because bus riding is a great way to see the sights. I never tire of them.
The lake is grey, ominous, choppy. Waves crashing on shore. Glad I'm comfy and warm inside here. Low clouds, but no snow here. Or else it all melted. The trees have that lovely, lacy look of early spring.
As the bus turns off on 47th I see that the viaduct has a fab-u-lous mural. But can't get shot.
Left on Lake Park, same as #2, Hyde Park Express. But this one turns left on East Hyde Park, and goes through the intersection of South Hyde Park Avenue and East Hyde Park Avenue. Only in Chicago (I hope). Past the glorious houses on Hyde Park to end up facing The Museum of Science and Industry. I see that here it's very windy. There is a New Jersey license plate next to me. Right on 57th and left on Stoney Island which is 1600 East. You could take this bus to U. of C. and Doc Films, among others that go down here. Past the shuttered Hyde Park Hospital, cause of much debate over its future.

And to add to my lack of picture-taking opportunities, the windows are rather dirty, so I chose to sit on the left, which leaves the whole street between me and anything I might want to capture. We are going all down the length of Jackson Park, not inconsiderable. Hit 67th at 12:20 pm. The bus turns east here. Past a golf course and another fab building at Brandon. All the way to South Shore Drive, which is merely the southern extension of Lake Shore Drive. Past the South Shore Cultural Center, which, hallelujah, I did manage to get in the camera. (I would say on film, but those days are almost gone.) Now the bus kind've weaves in and out, east, west, south, etc. Til it reaches it's terminus at 79th. But I have noticed that along the way there are some spiffy buildings right up against the lake. They must have a marvelous view. The South Shore neighborhood contains some of the best old architecture in the city. Please, please let us preserve it.

The end is a rather bleak open space close to the lake, but I cross the street and am immediately back on a north bound bus by 12:37pm. It was so fast that I had no time to take a picture of the bus or the bus sign.

Again, dirty windows. I have been passing so very many neat old buildings and no chance to take any pictures. Down here is where Public Art #3 is. On one of those buildings, just not on this route. But very walkable from one of the stops. There is a wonderful building at 7370 South Shore, The Faulkner School (I love that name) at Cole and South Shore. 6850 is neat, and there is a glorious view of the city at 67th and South Shore. Well, down here most of the buildings are glorious too. An empty bus so far. Some forsythia struggling to out itself at 63rd. We pass the Hyde Park Academy Environmental Nature Studies Park - a teeny space.



It's the same route back, for the most part, except when we leave LSD, we travel north on Michigan, not State. And so far, wonder of wonders, not one stroller. We pass the Kenwood Academy on Lake Park, across from the terrific Original Pancake House at 49th. The Ancona School at 47th.

Little tidbit of trivia here. The reason the sidewalk on Congress past the Auditorium is enclosed is because when they widened Congress years ago, they didn't have enough room here for the sidewalk, and required the then hotel to give up some of it's lobby space for that sidewalk. I never tire of the sights on North Michigan.

I was back at the river end by 1:30. Really a very quick trip, given the distance covered. I managed the 2:40 train home. And never thought I'd be through so early.

CTA BUS ROUTE #X4 - COTTAGE GROVE EXPRESS

Another express bus. Phooey. Those only run during rush hours, which means I have to go down one afternoon, spend the nite, and return the next morning. Oh well.
I see I haven't done any since October, so I might as well get to it before gardening season hits.

On a bright sunny late afternoon, a Wednesday, January 28, I left for the big city, and the next bus route. This one leaves from Chicago and Mies Van der Rohe Drive ( right on the south side of the Museum of Contemporary Art), and I took the very first one of the afternoon, which left promptly at 3:27 pm. It was 22 degrees. I had been putting off and putting off doing another route because of the cold, but finally I figured "Hey, all those commuters have to get out in the cold to go to work; maybe I should share that experience. And sorry about these dark pictures. It wasn't dark; I don't know what happened.
The Cottage Grove Express covers the exact same route as the Cottage Grove, just less stops.
The bus had rather dirty windows (although nothing compared to the one I took back up to Hyde Park; I couldn't even see out of those - literally. But I managed some fairly nice pics. We went down Michigan Avenue again.


And here let me pose a question. What exactly is the point of the openness of the bus shelters? Yes, they shield you from rain and sun, but not cold or more importantly, wind. Basically, they are open on all four sides, street side being wide open of course, but those plastic walls on the other three sides are open at the tops, bottoms, and sides. Why?
And this time I noticed all the flags blowing in the courtyard just north of the Wrigley Building. I had never noticed those before. Maybe because they were blowing so hard in the wind. It was 19 degrees at Lake and Michigan, but toasty warm inside the bus.
Everybody is dressing in black now - a sign of the dreadful economic times? And everything along Boul Mich looked dour and gloomy, dirty snow everywhere. It was all so tired looking, and I noticed that many other buses had even filthier windows. But then, at that time, so did my own car, and just maybe my view is altered by these dirty windows, because it really is a
beautiful day out. I don't think our city should be seen this way, through dirty bus windows, but I do appreciate the enormous task of keeping them clean in winter. Lots of yellow "falling ice" signs on the sidewalks.

Again through McCormick Place which was very well shoveled and cleared. The sun is blinding on the west side of the bus when it breaks free of buildings. I couldn't take a picture if I wanted to. (I am sitting on that side.)

This picture was taken at 29th and MLK Drive.











And the quirky bench was at 35th and MLK Drive. I don't think they're too bad, considering the state of the windows.

The bus turns east at 35th to Cottage Grove. Past the James R. Doolittle, Jr. Public School, the West Point (?) Missionary Baptist Church, and still the mysterious (to me) Abraham Lincoln Centre at Pershing "since 1905". Especially the spelling of that "centre". French.
Now the playgrounds and courtyards and empty lots are all footprintless (probably not in the dictionary, but it says what I want). And I can't take any pictures because of the blinding sun. Those empty lots are beautiful now.

Washington Park at close of day.



Past the Hale Franciscan High School. It is 20 degrees at 51st Street at 4:15. Now into Hyde Park, past the Illinois National Guard Armory, that beautiful Art Deco Building. Past the Du Sable Museum, well worth a visit.



Here you get some idea of the state of the windows. Still Washington Park

There are lots and lots for "For Rent" signs now. But on a recent trek down Howard Street on the north end of Chicago, I saw the very same thing. And here I feel a need to confess. There had been a woman sitting in front of me all the way from the start who had very long, light brown dreadlocks that looked exactly like wool. They were lovely, but like the Chinese when they first saw red hair, I had this terrible urge to reach out and touch them. I resisted successfully.

In an area that I think is called Park Grove are simply the most gorgeous old buildings. And way down south, looking down the side streets (because now there are no leaves to obstruct the view), most of the homes look just like the one I live in, bungalows.
I couldn't resist this - "Founded by God" Oh, Really?





This building is called ( I think) The Brookline building. Lovely. ( below)




I did not note the time we arrived at the last stop, unfortunately, but I don't think a whole lot of time is saved between this express and the regular Cottage Grove run.
Next morning, the bus I took down from 67th, was going to turn into the express bus going back, so all I had to do was get out and take pictures. That was nice. It left at 8:15, exactly one hour after I had left those relatives' house, walked to 67th and Cottage Grove, and waited for the regular #4 to arrive and take me down to 94th. And as you can see from the pictures, the bus sign was snapped the day before, in bright sunshine.
















This express was really crowded by 90th Street already. Now on the east side of the bus, I do see poverty and unkempt homes. Burnside? Not sure. A cloudy, overcast morning. Low sky. 22 degrees, same as yesterday pm. Again past the See Thru Chinese Kitchen. One day I'm going to have to go in there. All the young men, both yesterday and today, look so angry. At the world? At 77th, at 75th, there are magnificent buildings. The bus was so crowded that I didn't have the nerve to raise my camera from my lap and take pictures. It didn't feel like the time or place to play the tourist. By the time we got to the south end of the Oak Woods Cemetery, the bus was totally crammed. The bus driver had to keep asking people to move back. The thought occured to me that there would be more room if we all weren't so large, myself included. It is nice to see, though, that the cemetary has plowed the sidewalk all along its perimeter. Unfortunately, people still were walking in the street on the other side because they couldn't see over the snow banks to that plowed sidewalk. I only knew it was there because I had driven by it in my car. At 67th at 8:37 am.

Another incredible building at 64th. (This bus has limited stops between 94th and 14th Streets.) North of the University of Chicago the bus finally unjammed. The South Shore Bank at 47th is a real beauty. At 43rd, I saw outside a child so bundled up in an orange snowsuit that he (she) actually was wobbling as he (she) stood. Reminded me of the kid in "The Christmas Story".

By 32nd, it's really getting emptier, and there is one of those neat benches here. At 14th by 9:12. And looking out, it seems very windy now. It certainly wasn't when I was standing, waiting to go south from 67th earlier.

Agora in the snow.











Right above - if you look very close, you can see the worker in the tree at the Art Institute, at 9:20 am.


I just liked the outlines of this bare tree in the garden just north of the AI.











Chicago in winter. The lights are still on the trees in Millenium Park. Do they stay on all year?

A question in the window of the McCormick Freedom Museum, which is taking its act on the road soon.
"Would freedom fall without democracy?" Food for thought.

9:30 am. Back at Chicago and Mies. I am sooo glad to be done with these rush hour routes, at least for a while.

Sixth one down

Postscript - I will not be doing the next route, the N5, South shore night bus. It runs basically during the wee small hours, and even I am not that obsessed. What could I see out the window anyway?

A FORGOTTEN TREASURE

Well, it's been a while. Holidays and a damn cold January have put me off a tad.

But late in January, a friend and I traveled to the south side by car to see what I think should be a Chicago Landmark, if it isn't already:

The Martin A. Ryerson House at 4851 South Drexel Boulevard.

I first learned about this magnificent mansion when I was in the Art Institute for their tapestry exhibit last fall. They had a photograph on the wall of one of the tapestries hanging in the Ryerson mansion. So naturally I wanted to see this great house.

The day we went was cold (what day in January wasn't?) and loads of snow piles lined the street. But the mansion's drive was totally cleared, except that the gates had not been opened, and snow was heaped in front of them. You could quite clearly see the imprints of the mailman as he delivered the mail to the box which hung from the gates. It did look as if somebody lived in the three car coach house, but we could not be sure that the mansion itself was occupied. The whole place took up almost an entire city block.

And listen up, Mayor Daley. I don't know who owns this place, but I would gladly pay to see the inside, renovated or not, just so I could be sure the ceiling would not fall on me, or the stairs collapse. (The picture with the tree is of the coach house.)

Martin Ryerson (1856-1932) was very important to the University of Chicago. Maybe they own it? He was President of the Board of Trustees from 1892 until 1922, a long time indeed. There is a biography of him on the University's web site. His connection to the Art Institute, for whom their library is named, comes about because of his passion for art collecting. He left them five paintings by Renoir and sixteen by Monet!!!. And all these originally hung in this mansion, along with the aforesaid tapestry, among others.
At the time of his death, his total contributions to the U. of C. exceeded $2 million, and this does not even include the $6 million that was evenly divided among the Art Institute, the Field Museum, and the U. of C.

Why, oh why, is this residence not celebrated? Surely the man who did so much for the cultural and educational life of this city deserves better?

PUBLIC ART IN CHICAGO # 8 - FIGURES, RELIEFS, URN, FOR THE LOUIS HIPPACH MEMORIAL CHAPEL

On a glorious day some weeks ago, I went to the Chapel Hill Gardens West Cemetery where this chapel is located. It is in Oakbrook Terrace, not Villa Park, as Alan Artner seems to think. Located on Roosevelt road, just west of Route # 83, very easy to get to.

According to the cemetery's literature, the chapel was built in 1926, not 1928, as Mr. Artner has in his list, but I'm not going to quibble over two years. The great bronze funerary urn ( 5'6" in height) was created by Richard Bock, and is a masterpiece, in this humble person's opinion. Apparently Mr. Bock was a long-time collaborator with Frank Lloyd Wright, but this urn and chapel are pure Art Nouveau, I think.

Mr. Hippach built this chapel to memorialize and honor his parents, but curiously, they are not buried inside, but rather outside, in the back.
The owners of the cemetery have recently renovated the building, and it shows. All of the figures are snowy white and clean. The tile on the inside floor gleams, and the windows are sparkly. All is now in immaculate condition. However, the outside dentals, which surround three sides, do seem inappropriate to this period, and I have to question whether they are original. They appear to be of coarse granite , not in keeping with the mottled gray and brown granite of the exterior walls. And beautiful they are too.

On the urn, located just outside the portico, are found relief heads of Christ, Mohamed, Moses, Buddha, Shiva, Thor, Zeus, and Isis. A most catholic array of religious figures. Under these heads are representations of Maternity and Childhood, Education, Labor, Enlightenment, Love and Life, Harvest, Old Age Victorious, and Parting of the Thread of Life (these names are taken from the booklet I obtained from the office).

Most impresive are the four figures that crown each corner of the chapel, north south, east, and west. They have been dubbed "The Watchers". Cut in white marble, they represent reflections on Life and Death.

I particularly liked the expressions cut into the belfry walls on the north and south sides:

"Lest we forget that the main current of our will is still like the green moving waters and our reasoned choices like the flutter of foam of its surface."

"Lest we forget that out of wild nature we are come, that our instincts are great, our wisdoms little."

To me, this chapel is perfectly wonderful, and the reason I have been so long in posting about it, is that I have about decided to have my ashes put in it. The cemetery people, in restoring the building, put glass cases across the east end of the interior, on both sides of the entrance, and they are not very expensive, by today's inflated funeral costs. I had been thinking about what to do for some time now. My family has had some decidedly adventurous funeral experiences, to say the least. My father's ashes were thrown down on the track as the horses of the Kentucky Derby were thundering past. My mother's body was driven, in her casket of course, by my husband and me in our Chevy van, down to Louisville, Kentucky, where she spent the night until we could inter her the next morning.
I think the funeral industry has gotten out of hand, and any way I can cheat them out of the thousands of dollars they gouge from us, I will. I do love to roam cemeteries, however, and read all the gravestones, and look at all the various expressions of art to be found there. So much spent on the dead, but so much history there too. So I was thinking of having a gravestone, and I told my sons that it should say "She read 'Ulysses' twice".
Then I was thinking about the new and coming, I hope, green movement, where bodies are simply laid in a white shroud, and put in the ground, in a forest-like place, and allowed to decompose as nature intended. Relatives themselves can even dig the grave.

But then I came to the Hippach Memorial Chapel, which, see, I would never have done if not for my obsessive-compulsive nature. Going through Alan Artner's public art list. And now I think this is the place for me, because I so love architecture and old beautiful buildings, and this way I can have some hand in keeping it restored, although I am sure I threw the rep for a loop when I asked to see the legal literature on keeping this building in repair for hundreds of years in the future. Laws and owners change.

I am rather excited about it, although I, like all the rest of humanity, simply cannot imagine not seeing the next dawn. But here, I loved, not only the building, but also the great urn, with its multiplicity of beliefs, I, who have none.