Gone But Not Forgotten: Remembering the loss of Architectural Treasures.

[wrab]

Originally Posted by THE BIG APPLE

I'd say Chicago could've done a bit better job saving the old buildings, especially since there weren't/aren't any significantly tall old buildings in Chicago. What ever NYC has destroyed (ex. Penn, Singer) STILL out of the 10 tallest buildings in the city 5 (FIVE) were built before 1935. ESB, Chrysler, AIG, 40 Wall, GE.

I'm not sure I understand your logic here - what does the relative height of Chicago's prewar buildings have to do their preservation?

[Nowhereman1280]

Originally Posted by Tyler Xyroadia

And this where the architect curmudgeon in me shows through. Because I will be hounest, Any Brutalist building torn down I tend not to shed a tear over... yet that is EXACTLY the type of sentiment that led to the historical holocost of the 60's and 70's.

So I have to ask, If the above was torn down, what was put in it's place?
Because for me, the measure of what was lost is measured aginst what is built in it's place.

I am curious Nowhere... As one of the members that seems to be a fan of modernist and brutalist buildings, what ones today would you say you are afraid of losing? What is a building you would be sad to see lost?

I may not LIKE these buildings, but I should still care about them historically.

The worst part about Michael Reese is that they were torn down and replaced by an empty lot. There is one building still standing that was "preserved" though who knows how long it will be until weather destroys it to the point where it can't be saved.

We are losing the same things we lost when we tore down buildings from the 1920's or 1900's. We are losing something we can never get back. For example, Northwestern Hospital in Chicago is trying to tear down the below building by Bertrand Goldberg (of Marina City fame):


chicagotribune.com


blogspot.com (Edward Lifson)

This is something we can never get back. It's designed by one of the more important modernist architects in history and was revolutionary in its time and continues to influence hospital designs today. It is also a completely unique building that exists nowhere else. The structural components of the building are rare and exist nowhere else. There is no other example of such a flying double arch like this yet alone on such a scale. It needs to be preserved, period. If we tear it down our children will look back on us as we do on our grandparents who demolished so much of our cities.

[Tyler Xyroadia]

A parking lot...
I see, yeah...

A Parking lot is a fate I would not wish upon the worst of modern or brutal buildings, that is just horrific. I also understand you feelings about "Something we can never get back" because that is exactly what gets to me about so many of the buildings lost in the 60's and 70's.

Looking at the picture you gave, it reminds me of a similar hospital in my home of Phoenix Az, "Good Sam's"


Now I don't LIKE that hospital, I think it is, well, abit ugly. But it's still 'ours' and I know it is one of a kind. If someone said they wanted it torn down I'd fight to protect it.

So I guess we can find common ground here. History is what we can not get back, and that applies to many many buildings now. Especially sicne what is built in it's place, if anything, is often unimaginative and bland.

I think the construction world as a whole needs some sort of '"Law of Equal Exchange" IE, you can't just take down one building if you are just leaving an empty lot in it's place, whatever replaces it must be an improvement.
Imagine if the world followed that? We would no longer need fear a historical treasure being replaced by a Wal-Mart.

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ That's actually another design by the same architect. The one I posted was actually essentially the "root" design for all the future variations he built elsewhere. There is another Goldberg hospital in Milwaukee and several others around the country.

Here are a bunch of elevations and renderings of the hospital as drawn by the architect himself:

http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections...ory/417?page=5

[THE BIG APPLE]

Originally Posted by wrab

I'm not sure I understand your logic here - what does the relative height of Chicago's prewar buildings have to do their preservation?

It's simple. The taller the building, the more it costs to demolish it, and especially since it's more of a complicated job. The Singer Building was a pretty tall building, and its demolition was a surprise just as was Penn Station's demise. But the bigger the structure is vertically the harder it is to take down. Now name one chicago prewar that's taller than 605 feet. There's none. Imagine if there were plans to take down the ESB for a shorter building. It doesn't work that way. Short buildings are demolished to make way for taller ones, and rarely to never is it the other way around. Now do you understand. You could look at all the beautiful demolished buildings from Chicago's past, and you'll see that on todays map there's either a taller building or a park or seldom a parking lot in its/there place.

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ That's almost completely untrue. Many of Chicago's tallest demolished buildings were replaced by shorter buildings and most that weren't were replaced by vacant lots.

For example the Masonic Temple in Chicago (302 FT) was demolished to make way for a two story Walgreens that stood on the site for 50 years or so. That was finally demolished to make way for a 400' tower about five years ago which is still barely taller especially considering 70 years or so had passed since it's demolition.

Though I have to say that, despite the horrific losses of buildings like the Chicago Stock Exchange and Garrick Theater, Chicago has been pretty fortunate to hold on to a majority of it's building stock and most of it's finest and most influential pieces of architecture.

[Tyler Xyroadia]

By the by...

It is easy to remmeber the "famous" ones that have been lost, especially in the more 'famous' cities.
NY,
LA,
Boston,
Chicago, etc

But... Well I know there are a host lost in other cities, Detroit has seen dozens gone, and Buffalo as well. Surely we have forum members there?

[MayDay]

Some buildings lost in Cleveland:

On the left, the Cuyahoga Building - architects Burnham and Root (ouch!); built in 1892. On the right, the Williamson Building - architect George B. Post; 16 stories, built in 1900, demolished in 1982*. When completed, it was Cleveland's tallest:



*200 Public Square (fka BP Building) was built on the site:


The Engineers Building - built in 1910, 14 stories; demolished in 1989*:


*Marriott at Key Center was built in its place:


Union National Bank building - built in 1916, 16 stories, demolished in the 1950s*:


*The Woolworth department store was built in its place and is now the Cleveland House of Blues: