Reconstructing the Garrick
Adler & Sullivan's Lost Masterpiece
Published on 26. October 2021
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-1-5179-1280-2 (ISBN)
Description
A beautifully designed and lavishly illustrated biography of one of Chicago's greatest lost buildings
For six months in 1961, Richard Nickel, John Vinci, and David Norris salvaged the interior and exterior ornamentation of the Garrick Theater, Adler & Sullivan's magnificent architectural masterpiece in Chicago's theater district. The building was replaced by a parking garage, and its demolition ignited the historic preservation movement in Chicago.
The Garrick (originally the Schiller Building) was built in 1892 and featured elaborate embellishments, especially in its theater and exterior, including the ornamentation and colorful decorative stenciling that would become hallmarks of Louis Sullivan's career. Reconstructing the Garrick documents the enormous salvaging job undertaken to preserve elements of the building's design, but also presents the full life story of the Garrick, featuring historic and architectural photographs, essays by prominent architectural and art historians, interviews, drawings, ephemera from throughout its lively history and details of its remarkable ornamentation-a significant resource and compelling tribute to one of Chicago's finest lost buildings. A seventy-two-page facsimile of Richard Nickel's salvage workbook is tipped into the binding.
For six months in 1961, Richard Nickel, John Vinci, and David Norris salvaged the interior and exterior ornamentation of the Garrick Theater, Adler & Sullivan's magnificent architectural masterpiece in Chicago's theater district. The building was replaced by a parking garage, and its demolition ignited the historic preservation movement in Chicago.
The Garrick (originally the Schiller Building) was built in 1892 and featured elaborate embellishments, especially in its theater and exterior, including the ornamentation and colorful decorative stenciling that would become hallmarks of Louis Sullivan's career. Reconstructing the Garrick documents the enormous salvaging job undertaken to preserve elements of the building's design, but also presents the full life story of the Garrick, featuring historic and architectural photographs, essays by prominent architectural and art historians, interviews, drawings, ephemera from throughout its lively history and details of its remarkable ornamentation-a significant resource and compelling tribute to one of Chicago's finest lost buildings. A seventy-two-page facsimile of Richard Nickel's salvage workbook is tipped into the binding.
Reviews / Votes
"Reconstructing the Garrick is large, with a tall proportion befitting the city's one-time tallest building."-A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books"This award-winning book is a wonderful representation of the feeling and content of that exhibition in a format that can be held in one's hands and returned to again and again. It unfolds as an epic tale with the creation of a building intended for the presentation of art, both on the stage and built into its walls."-Nineteenth Century
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Minnesota
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
250 color plates
Dimensions
Height: 335 mm
Width: 208 mm
Thickness: 41 mm
Weight
2018 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5179-1280-2 (9781517912802)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
John Vinci, FAIA, senior partner and practicing architect, Vinci/Hamp Architects, Inc., has been an architect in Chicago for more than sixty years. He taught the history of architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology and has extensive experience in exhibition curation and design. In 1961 he worked with Richard Nickel to salvage the Garrick Building's ornament for the City of Chicago.
Tim Samuelson is the administrator of his own lifetime architectural preservation archive, and is the City of Chicago's cultural historian and former curator of architecture and design at the Chicago Historical Society. Since age seven his primary and long-term interest has been the story of Chicago's architecture, especially the work of Louis H. Sullivan.
Eric Nordstrom focuses on the documentation of historic building materials from commercial and residential construction; he founded Urban Remains, an extensive and eclectic store of building materials in Chicago, and created the BLDG. 51 museum and gallery, an archive of historically significant architectural artifacts and ephemera.
Chris Ware's work has appeared in the MCA Chicago, the Whitney Museum of American Art and The New Yorker, and his books have been named year-end top ten fiction selections by the New York Times and Time magazine.
Tim Samuelson is the administrator of his own lifetime architectural preservation archive, and is the City of Chicago's cultural historian and former curator of architecture and design at the Chicago Historical Society. Since age seven his primary and long-term interest has been the story of Chicago's architecture, especially the work of Louis H. Sullivan.
Eric Nordstrom focuses on the documentation of historic building materials from commercial and residential construction; he founded Urban Remains, an extensive and eclectic store of building materials in Chicago, and created the BLDG. 51 museum and gallery, an archive of historically significant architectural artifacts and ephemera.
Chris Ware's work has appeared in the MCA Chicago, the Whitney Museum of American Art and The New Yorker, and his books have been named year-end top ten fiction selections by the New York Times and Time magazine.