UOughta Know...
The Urban Observer introduces a new feature: UOughta Know. Simply put, send in your pix and questions about Chicago buildings and I'll see if I can answer them. Today's image comes from reader John Riordan who sent in the above photo of a former Studebaker auto facility at Washington and Kilpatrick on the city's West Side. Given the building's ornament--especially this killer piece right here---
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--Riordan wanted to know if building might have been designed by the great Louis Sullivan.
Answer: Built in 1925, this old Studebaker facility near Washington and Keeler is likely not a Sullivan--he died in 1924--but it does show the influence the architect had. Builders could order Sullivanesque terra cotta pieces from catalogs and as a result, scores of buildings have touches like these.
The classy ornament would have conveyed the right image for Studebaker, an upscale automobile company. According to a Feb 22, 1925 Chicago Tribune article, this building was the seventh in a series of sales and service centers the automaker opened around Chicago during the time. The Studebaker Corporation's best-known local structure is the Fine Arts Building at 410 S. Michigan which was originally a showroom for Studebaker carriages.
Got a building you're curious about? Grab a picture and send it in to lee@leebey.com
