MKE ARCHITECTURAL DETAIL: GOOD, BAD, AND UGLY

Like many older Midwestern cities, Milwaukee has a mix of architectural styles, much of it extending back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  The older architecture, in particular, exhibits a craftsmanship that simply cannot be duplicated in contemporary construction because such craftsmanship no longer exists and even if it did the labor costs would be prohibitive.  Some of that architecture has been preserved, but some has been allowed to deteriorate.  I enjoy trying to capture both in photography.  Here are some recent efforts.

First, the "Good," starting with a couple of shots of the Mackie Building in downtown Milwaukee.  This building was constructed in 1879 and is best known for housing the Grain Exchange Room, which extends back to a time when Milwaukee was a center for the wholesale purchase and sale of wheat, corn, barley, and other grains.  On a recent visit to downtown, I took a couple of shots of the building's front entrance facade.  

The detail on this facade is quite remarkable.  Here is a closeup of the upper left corner of the facade.

In addition to the various figures, note the locomotive tucked in the triangular space between the column and the entrance archway.  The corresponding area on the other side of the archway features a ship.

Another building that has been nicely restored--twice--is the Iron Block building, so named because the facade is comprised not of brick or stone work but of prefabricated iron blocks.  Here is a small but nicely fashioned detail, that includes some of the iron blocks, in the area between windows on the building.

And here is a detail from the entrance to St. Stephen Lutheran church in the Walker's Point area south of downtown.  This church, which sits in a prominent location just east of the city's north-south freeway, was built in 1902 and has suffered a good deal of deterioration over the years, I'm sure for lack of funds, although more recently it has received some much needed restoration.  This detail--one of many--illustrates the craftsmanship that went into its construction originally.

And now some "Bad."  Other buildings, though originally exhibiting interesting detail, have suffered a good deal of neglect, as in this archwork, which I rendered in black and white for the full shot but kept in color for the detail on one of the arches.

And here are a couple of shots of a nondescript building that has suffered some massive paint failure.

And then there's the "Ugly."  The first couple of shots were, admittedly, taken in alleys, not meant for public exposure.  Still. . . .

Somehow I liked the shots for their ugliness--and for the graffitied sleeping figure in the first image.

Finally, are a couple of figures fashioned for a building erected in 1907, based on the numbers the figures are holding.  What puzzles me is why the architect would choose such grotesque visages, positioned in a semi-claustrophobic posture.

© 2019 John M. Phillips