JG - Postcard Past / Present Photo (Page 12)

Jul 17, 2023 Chicago Illinois From the archive

On Leong Merchants Association Building, Chicago

Basically a traditional Chicago union hall with a Chinese-inspired skin based on photos from a German architect's book and designed by Norwegian-American architects, Chinatown’s landmark On Leong Merchants Association Building is a quirky western reinterpretation of Chinese architectural forms.

Jul 10, 2023 Quad Cities Illinois

First National Bank, Rock Island, Illinois

This sucks–the last thing Rock Island needs is more parking lots. The Modern Woodmen of America demolished this handsome International style office building in 2020. Designed by Stuhr, Parkhurst & Appier and completed in 1963, it was one of only two examples of the style in Rock Island.

Jul 5, 2023 Copenhagen

Textilarbejdernes Hus, Copenhagen, Denmark

I did this one because I thought it was Denmark’s first curtain wall, designed by Arne Jacobsen. …lol, nope—that is Nyropsgade 18, next door. This is Nyropsgade…14, designed a few years later by the significantly-less-famous August Rasmussen & Torben Miland Petersen and completed in 1958.

Jun 29, 2023 Chicago From the archive

Milwaukee & Ashland, Polish Triangle, Chicago

It’s hard to imagine given how small this scruffy little plaza is today, but there used to be a whole building on top of Chicago’s Polish Triangle.

Jun 26, 2023 Quad Cities Illinois

Masonic Temple, Rock Island, Illinois

Rock Island’s Masonic Temple is a funny little example of the declining influence of fraternal organizations in the US.