Looking Up: One Last Look at Carson Pirie Scott.

So we’re going to do one more post on Carson’s and then we’re going to move on. This column was supposed to be a building a week – I realize this – it’s just that this building in particular is such a beautiful example of everything that was going on in the late 1800’s, early 1900’s; the tripartite divisions, the wish to have a “local” look to our buildings, the idea of a tall building actually realizing its verticality. All of this is due to Mr. Sullivan.

So just a few final things … the building actually had an addition put on in 1905. And frighteningly enough, Burnham was the man chosen to do the addition. I can’t imagine what Louis must have thought about this addition being put on to his building. We know he was quite passionate about what he built and possessive as well, and we have an inkling about his feelings towards Burnham, which were not favorable.

You can see on the building where the addition is. Burnham kept with the uniform look of the building but he did not exactly keep to the details outlined by Sullivan. If you’re standing on the State Street side of the building, look at the inside of the windows on the northern half of the building. You’ll see there that Sullivan added some decoration on the inside of window frame. Now look to the south and you will see that Burnham did not keep up with this detail. I don’t know why, but maybe it’s because Burnham either 1. Didn’t care about detail or 2. Just wanted to frost the hides or architecture buffs to come.

There’s one more thing about Carson’s that is so cool, and unfortunately now will be hard to see, but hopefully not for long.

If you walk into the lobby of Carson’s, not all the way inside the actual store, but just inside the doors (see if you can peek in when you’re walking by next) and notice the inside. It’s all deep colored brown with two huge columns that look like trees with flowers on the top. The cast iron from the outside of the building kind of hangs over the windows, and on a nice sunny day the sun shines through it and makes it seem like you’re standing a sun dappled forest. It’s just more of Sullivan trying to bring a nature aesthetic to our busy urban lives.

The inside of the store is not much to see, more columns with lots of flowering on top, but for Sullivan, the beauty was intended for the outside of his building, the inside was to be used for actual retailing.

Next week we’ll see how Burnham did his department store.

And then, I promise, we will move on from Burnham and Sullivan, but it’s important to see where these two men stood in relation to each other, to see how buildings progressed past them.

The Do-Gooder Corner: The Night Ministry.

The Night Ministry.

Started in 1976 to provide services to vulnerable youth and adults on Chicago’s nighttime streets, The Night Ministry continues its mission to serve. Although The Night Ministry is faith-based, it is not affiliated with any particular religion or congregation. The Night Ministry serves homeless and runaway youth, working poor adults, uninsured and under-insured individuals seeking medical assistance, and others who have fallen through the cracks of the social service system regardless of religious beliefs.

Do Gooders may have seen The Night Ministry’s Health Outreach Bus in the Uptown, Humboldt Park, Hyde Park and Uptown neighborhoods. The Health Outreach Bus is a custom-built bus providing free health care, STD testing, and referral assistance and hospitality to youth and adults from 7pm to 2am, six nights a week.

In addition to The Night Ministry’s Health Outreach activities, the organization also provides and Open Door Youth Shelter, which is the only shelter in Chicago that takes pregnant and parenting teens as young as 14, and a Youth Shelter Network.

There are many opportunities to get involved with The Night Ministry as an individual or with a group of your fellow Do Gooders. Some of the programs Do Gooders can get involved in are:

• - Freezin’ Fridays. Small groups of adults provide and serve hot soup and hot beverages on the nighttime streets in Lakeview neighborhood from November through April.

• - Sack Suppers. Small groups assemble sack suppers to be distributed from the Health Outreach Bus.

• - First Saturdays. Individuals can pack cookies and hygiene kits on the first Saturday of the month at The Night Ministry’s administrative offices in the Ravenswood neighborhood.

• - Health Outreach Bus. Individuals can volunteer on the Health Outreach Bus by providing hospitality.

• - Donate homebaked cookies or hygiene kits.

More information on The Night Ministry and ways to get involved can be found on their website at www.thenightministry.org or by contacting Gail Bernoff, Volunteer Coordinator at 773-506-6015.

Kathleen On The Scene: 03-02-07

Hey Hipsters! Kathleen on the Scene here! What? It’s me KotS! RSVP-ing “yes” to the weekly trend report. Let’s all start the party with what is in and what is out this week.

IN: Shelving TV Shows
OUT: Canceling TV Shows

IN: Wine in a Box
OUT: Screw Top Wine Bottles

IN: Birds
OUT: Butterflies

IN: Big Foreheads
OUT: Gap Teeth

IN: Zicam
OUT: Echinacea

IN: The Secret
OUT: The Rules

IN: Roman
OUT: Victorian

IN: Cranberry
OUT: Cherry

IN: Anthropology
OUT: Urban Outfitters

IN: UTI
OUT: Yeast Infection

Y’all come back next week Hipsters!

Luv,

Katleen on the Scene

Looking Up: Meet Louis Sullivan

Last week we discussed Louis Sullivan building a new kind of building, the mighty skyscraper. We learned about tripartite division and how pretty much everyone followed Mr. Sullivan’s suit and built their skyscrapers much like Sullivan did.

But even though they were following his blueprint, no one was building quite like Sullivan.

Sullivan was a philosopher, he thought long and hard about his buildings artistically and structurally. While Burnham was building the prettiest buildings he could, Sullivan was building his the only way they could be. They were organic, built out of the ground (Just as a little literary aside, Ayn Rand’s book “The Fountainhead” was based loosely off of Sullivan and his student, Frank Lloyd Wright, that’s why Howard Roark’s buildings are so organic and look like they “grew” out of the ground).

Sullivan coined the term “Form Follows Function”. If you look at Carson’s, you can really see his philosophy straight up. Look at the intense cast iron ornament surrounding the windows on the sidewalk. Sullivan didn’t want old Greek ornament, but he did want ornament! His ornate work on the bottom of Carson’s is all prairie land flowers and leaves, local fauna. With all that seemingly superfluous design, he basically made a picture frame to highlight what was going on in the windows.

Also, if you look at the side of Carson’s, you’ll see that Sullivan really emphasized the horizontal. If you look at the spandrels (the horizontal lines that run across the building) you’ll see that they’re wide and large and the vertical lines (the piers) are thinner. Sullivan knew this was going to be a department store, so by framing the windows and making the building more horizontal, his form is following his function, yes?

NOW! Look at the corner of the building, the rounded corner (left). Sullivan put the entrance on the corner to make it easier to come in and out, but what really stands out is the verticality on the side of the building (note how the piers are now emphasized to draw your eye upwards). Carson’s (it was first the Schlessinger and Mayer department store) in its day was definitely a skyscraper and Sullivan said (in an intense essay on skyscrapers that the skyscraper is “lofty. ... It must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exultation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single dissenting line.”

A proud and soaring thing. I love that. So now we see why Sullivan made sure to add some verticality to his building. To allow it to be a proud and soaring thing.

There is still even more to see on Sullivan’s building, and I’m in no rush. Take in what you can, look at this building now that it’s shut down and wonder for a moment what Sullivan might have wanted done with this space, now that it’s not a department store. What will go into those beautifully framed windows? Let’s hope it’s not a condo conversion and a stuffy old lobby. I fear Sullivan would come back and kick some ass.

Tuesdays Lost Youtube Clip: Let's Go To The Air-Show!

Every Tuesday, the CPC brings you the YouTube clip that you missed this week. But probably should've seen.

Hey Everybody, Let's Visit "The Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Festival!". This charming video of aerial shenanigans is charmingly set to the music of The Fifth Dimensions #7 Billboard hit of 1967, "Up, up and away" (In My Beautiful Balloon!) The perfect melding of video image and audio song!

Enjoy!

The Do-Gooder Corner: Kiva

Kiva

The Do Gooder’s Corner mission is to relay information on volunteer opportunities in Chicago. Sometimes, however, the Do Gooder would like to focus attention on other ways readers can make a difference. One such deserving organization is the focus of this week’s column: Kiva.

To understand Kiva, one must understand microfinancing, which supplies loans, savings and other basic financial services to the poor. Microfinancing is nothing new (who hasn’t gotten a small loan to cover the rent from a parent, sibling or friend?), but on a global scale starting in the 1950’s, it took the form of governments in developing countries providing credit to small and marginal farmers as a way of trying to raise income. Since then, microfinancing has grown and evolved, and according to the U.N., there are now over 7,000 microfinance institutions serving the needs of the poor. Microfinancing also received some attention in 2006 when Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, a microfinance bank, and Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank, won the Nobel Peace Prize.

While microfinance institutions (MFIs) were doing good work to serve the world’s poor, Kiva founders, Matthew and Jessica Flannery, felt there was a gap between individuals who could make small loans and the small businesses those individuals wanted to help. Thus, the idea of Kiva was born: connecting micro-lenders (that’s you, fellow Do Gooders) with small businesses in developing countries.

Kiva partners with MFIs that are already “on the ground” in the country or region the businesses are located. The MFIs assess whether a business is a good candidate for a loan, and if accepted, forwards the profiles Kiva. Kiva then posts profiles of loan candidates on its website. Individual lenders, primarily from the United States and England, can then make a loan (minimum of $25) through PayPal. The MFI then distributes the loan.

Lenders are paid back in full at the end of the loan term (usually between 12-18 months), but they do not receive interest for their loan. Because this is a loan, Do Gooders cannot claim it as a charitable donation on their taxes, however, any donation to Kiva itself is tax-deductible. Lenders receive periodic updates from the MFI about repayment progress and how the individuals are doing via email and journal entries.

You can watch PBS Frontline/World’s 15-minute documentary on micro-lending and Kiva at this link.

And check out www.kiva.org for more information and to make your micro-loan.

Looking Up: The Triparte Division.

Okay , now is when this stuff starts to get really interesting.

Last week we talked about why Chicago was really the first to start building skyscrapers, and we’ve touched a little on why Burnham made Louis Sullivan so frackin’ mad. While Burnham relied on his go-to Grecian style, Sullivan wanted to build something...organic, something new, something no one had ever done before. (That last sentence, by the by, is a direct quote from Eddie and the Cruisers. I know Sullivan would approve).

Sullivan was very influenced by nature. He wanted to bring the beauty of nature back to the dark, black, dirty city of Chicago. He believed a building should grow much like a tree does. And like an acorn, he believed a building was going to be what it was before he even started. Confusing? A bit. But lets start with an example, the Carson Pirie Scott Building finished in 1898 (right).

Sullivan designed his buildings in three parts, officially called a “tripartite division”. Sullivan’s skyscrapers had a base (or roots) usually with big windows for retail stores, the shaft, or “trunk” of the building where the design remained the same, and the cornice, or the “flowering” on the top. The cornice is the top of the building, the part of the roof that usually overhangs the building.

Once Sullivan applied this type of design to his skyscrapers, other architects did the same thing. Most of Chicago’s historic skyscrapers (including Mr. Burnham’s, I mean come on, wha...he’s NOT going to do what everyone else is doing?) are designed in a tripartite division.

Check out this building, the aptly named Chicago Building at 7 W. Madison designed by Holabird and Roche in 1904 (left). You can clearly see the three divisions in the building. Also, the Chicago Building is one of the only buildings with the original cornice in tact.

Or lets go back to the Marquette building, also by Holabird and Roche….

Or lets even go back to the People’s Gas Building…even Burnham’s building has this tripartite division.
The tripartite division is one the hallmarks of the “Chicago School” of architecture. We’ll learn more attributes as we go on, but this one is essential.

Alas, I cannot even begin to explain the beauty of Carson’s in one entry, so we’ll come back to Carson’s next week to examine Sullivan’s philosophy of “Form Follows Function”.