More building entrances should look like this (below). It's Willoughby Tower, at 8. South Michigan Avenue in Chicago, a neo-gothic, 38-story office building finished in the inauspicious year of 1929. My kids and I happened by, on a recent visit to my old hometown. Naturally I had my digicam in hand.
Willoughby Tower has six ornamental heads and two sphinxes affixed to the stone facade right above the main entrance. Let's take a closer look at three of the ornamental heads (they're not gargoyles because they're neither monstrous in form nor carved into spouts). To me, that guy on the left looks vaguely Germanic or Prussian; the one in the center Egyptian. On the right, an English court jester, doncha think?
And how about these sphinxes? They're not going to take much guff, I think. Notice the rich ornamentation above, including the bunches of grapes.
TECHNORATI TAGS: CHICAGO, ARCHITECTURE, WILLOUGHBY TOWER, MICHIGAN AVENUE
Posted by Matt Rosenberg at November 6, 2006 05:38 PM
They don't make 'em like these any more! I went to google Images just now and typed in Arctic Building (Seattle) and came up with several photos of the walruses on this structure plus the Lions in Seattle, and the Cobb and Title Buildings, all with marvelous carvings.
Posted by: Lorna at November 6, 2006 06:05 PM