Architecture Art Missouri Museums Picture of the Day

Louis Sullivan's Chicago in St Louis

Paul Heymont 10/21/235:00 AM

Sometimes, it seems, buildings just have to leave town to be appreciated fully; here's an example!

P1320789

When Louis Sullivan's 1893 Chicago Stock Exchange Building was demolished in 1972 after a big campaign for its preservation parts of its intricate and carefully-wrought decoration found new homes elsewhere, including the St Louis City Museum, where a number of its pieces are on display, along with their story.

The elegant building, one of America's first steel-framed skyscrapers, featured elaborate detailing on its lower floors, where the Exchange and its traders were, tall vertical windows above for ten floors filled with office workers and a unifying cornice across the top. The interior lobbies were a work of art of their own.

While the big preservation battle was lost, the small one continues every day...

Also on display, two limestone pilasters from St Louis's home-grown and now demolished 1928 Passavant Memorial Hospital.

All of which reminds me of a short rhyme by Clarence Day:

When eras die, their legacies are left to strange police;
Professors in New England guard the Glory that was Greece

Attachments

Hide

Images (8)

Add Comment

Sign In To Comment

Comments (0)

<div id="{%=id%}" class="reveal-modal small h-alert-modal-popup" data-reveal>
    <div class="first-modal-focus focus-utility-element" tabindex="0" aria-label="Inside Modal"></div>

<h4 id="{%=id%}_title" class="margin-bottom-10 popup-title"></h4>
    <div id="{%=id%}_body" class="margin-bottom-10 popup-body">
        </div>

<ul id="{%=id%}ButtonGroup" class="button-group h-popup-buttons even-button-group even-1">
    <li id="{%=id%}Okay_buttonContainer"><a id="{%=id%}Okay" href="javascript:void(0);" class="button success no-margin-bottom h-alert-modal-ok-button" role="button">OK</a><script type="text/javascript">
        (function() {
            function {%=id%}Okay_click(event, data) {
            {%=id%}Popup.hide();
        }
        
                $('#{%=id%}Okay').on('click', {%=id%}Okay_click);
        })();
    </script></li></ul><a href="javascript:void(0);" class="close-reveal-modal" aria-label="Close Modal">&#215;</a><div class="last-modal-focus focus-utility-element" tabindex="0"></div>
</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
        (function() {
            {%=id%}Popup = new SS.Popup.ModalPopup('{%=id%}');
        })();
    </script>