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Chicago Motor Club Michigan Square/ 1971 MIA Deco New York IN THIS ISSUE Conversion Diana Court Exhibition DECO SPOTLIGHT Exhibitions, tours, lectures & special events of interest to Art Deco enthusiasts

Miami Beach Art Deco District ONGOING and MiMo (Miami Modern) on America on the Move the Beach Guided Walking Tours National Museum of American Self-Guided Art Deco Architectural History, Washington, DC Audio Tour americanhistory.si.edu Miami Design Preservation 202-633-1000 League, Miami Beach, FL Americans All: Race Relations in mdpl.org/305-672-2014 Depression-Era Murals Guided Art Deco Walking, Bus, The Wolfsonian, Miami Beach, FL Bike, and Vintage Car Tours wolfsonian.org/305-531-1001 Self-guided Art Deco Walking Art and Design in the Modern Age: and Driving Tours Selections from the Wolfsonian Art Deco Trust, Napier, Collection New Zealand The Wolfsonian, Miami Beach, FL artdeconapier.com wolfsonian.org/305-531-1001 +64 6 835 0022 Gateway to the City: Cincinnati IN PROGRESS Union Terminal Cincinnati History Museum Thru November 1 Cincinnati, OH The Private Josef Hoffmann: cincymuseum.org/513-287-7000 Apartment Tours Josef Hoffmann Museum A Long-Awaited Tribute: Frank Brtnice, Czech Republic Lloyd Wright’s Usonian House mak.at/+420 724 543 722 and Pavilion Guggenheim, New York, NY Thru November 15 Poy Gum Lee, On Leon Tong, 83-85 Mott Street. Promoting the Good Life: Recent guggenheim.org/new-york Presentation drawing, 1948, ink and watercolor on paper. 212-423-3575 Acquisitions The Wolfsonian, Miami Beach, FL Courtesy of the Poy Gum Lee Archive. Picasso’s “Le Tricorne” wolfsonian.org/305-531-1001 New-York Historical Society Poy Gum Lee is revered for his work in China, but Chinese Style: New York, NY Thru November 29 Rediscovering the Architecture of Poy Gum Lee, 1923–1968, on view nyhistory.org/212-873-3400 Jacob Lawrence: The Legend of at the Museum of Chinese in America through January 31, 2016, John Brown Portfolio is the first major study of his work in the United States. The Art Deco Skyscrapers: Downtown, Memorial Art Gallery of Chicago Board of Trade, and the University of Rochester exhibition examines Lee’s hybrid modernist influence in New Merchandise Mart Walking Tours Rochester, NY York’s Chinatown and his architectural integration of eastern Art Deco Skyscrapers: Riverfront mag.rochester.edu/585-276-8900 ideas and western technology. Architectural historian and Trolley and Walking Tour exhibition guest curator Kerri Culhane will also address Lee’s Chicago Architecture Foundation Thru December 6 architecture.org/312-922-3432 Paul Rudolph: The Guest Houses work at the upcoming World Congress on Art Deco in Shanghai. John and Mable Ringling Museum Cincinnati Union Terminal Rotunda of Art Tours Sarasota, FL Thru January 3, 2016 Thru January 10, 2016 Cincinnati History Museum ringling.org/941-359-5700 Roman Vishniac Rediscovered Expressionist Impulses: German and Cincinnati, OH Museum of Fine Arts Central European Art, 1890–1910 cincymuseum.org/513-287-7000 Thru January 3, 2016 Art for the People: Carl Peters and Houston, TX Smart Museum of Art Art Deco Walking Tours of Los the Rochester WPA Murals mfah.org/713-639-7300 Chicago, IL Angeles and Union Station Tours Memorial Art Gallery of Thru January 3, 2016 smartmuseum.uchicago.edu Los Angeles Conservancy the University of Rochester Going Places: Transportation 773-702-0200 Los Angeles, CA Rochester, NY Designs from the Jean S . and Thru January 17, 2016 laconservancy.org/213-623-2489 mag.rochester.edu/585-276-8900 Frederic A . Sharf Collection Gypsy Coeds Ride the Silver Streak Walking Tours: Thru January 3, 2016 Norton Museum of Art Peoria Riverfront Museum Downtown Deco, Art Deco Marina, Intersecting Colors: Josef Albers West Palm Beach, FL Peoria, IL Coit Tower Murals, Controversial and His Contemporaries norton.org/561-832-5196 peoriariverfrontmuseum.org Murals of , Diego Mead Art Museum, Thru January 4, 2016 309-686-7000 Rivera Mural at City College, Amherst College Berlin Metropolis: 1918-1933 Thru January 17, 2016 Mural at the Stock Amherst, MA Neue Galerie, New York, NY Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Exchange Tower amherst.edu/museum/mead neuegalerie.org/212-628-6200 Modernist San Francisco City Guides 413-542-2000 Thru January 10, 2016 Whitney Museum of San Francisco, CA American Art sfcityguides.org/415-557-4266 Lyonel Feininger and Alfred Kubin: A Friendship of Artists New York, NY Albertina, Vienna, Austria whitney.org/212-570-3600 albertina.at/+43 1 534 83-0

6 Chicago Art Deco Society Magazine DECO SPOTLIGHT Exhibitions, tours, lectures & special events of interest to Art Deco enthusiasts

Thru January 17, 2016 Thru March 20, 2016 December 17 Designing Home: Jews and Irving Penn: Beyond Beauty Lecture: Chrysler Building: Holiday Midcentury Modernism Smithsonian American Art Celebration for a New York Icon, Museum of Jewish Heritage Museum, Washington, D.C. David Stravitz New York, NY americanart.si.edu Art Deco Society of New York mjhnyc.org/646-437-4202 202-633-7970 New York, NY Thru January 17, 2016 Thru June 24, 2016 artdeco.org/212-679-3326 Heroism in Paint: A Master Series Who’s Afraid of Women by Jacob Lawrence Photographers? Second Part: COMING IN 2016 Taft Museum of Art 1918-1945 January 15–17 Cincinnati, OH Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France 39th Annual Art Deco Weekend taftmuseum.org/513-241-0343 musee-orsay.fr/en Miami Design Preservation Thru January 31, 2016 +33 (0)1 40 49 48 14 League, Miami Beach, FL  Chinese Style: Rediscovering Thru August 15, 2016 mdpl.org/305-672-2014 the Architecture of Poy Gum Lee, Satchmo: His Life in New Orleans February 9–May 8 1923-1968 The Old U. S. Mint, New Dressing Downton: Changing Museum of Chinese in America Orleans, LA Fashion for Changing Times New York, NY louisianastatemuseums.org Richard H. Driehaus Museum mocanyc.org/855-955-6622 504-568-6993 Chicago, IL Advertisement for Bacardi Thru January 31, 2016 driehausmuseum.org Rum and Hatuey Beer, COMING IN 2015 312-482-8933 Ernest Hemingway: Between c. 1930. The Wolfsonian- Two Wars October 24–January 31, 2016 Februar y 11–21 Florida International Morgan Library & Museum 1920s Modernism: Montreal, the Palm Springs Modernism Week New York, NY Beaver Hall Group Palm Springs, CA University, Miami Beach, themorgan.org/212-685-0008 Montreal Museum of Fine Arts modernismweek.com Florida, Vicki Gold Levi Thru February 14, 2016 Montreal, Quebec, Canada 760-799-9477 Collection, XC2002.11.4.33. mbam.qc.ca/514-285-2000 February 12–15 Jacques Doucet-Yves Saint Laurent, Images from a newly Living for Art Palm Springs Modernism Show October 28–November 1 acquired photographic Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Pre-Congress Program and Sale Saint Laurent Beijing, China palmspringsmodernism.com archive are featured in Paris, France November 1–6 708-366-2710 Paradise Found: Cuban Allure, fondation-pb-ysl.net 14th World Congress on Art Deco April–September American Seduction, on view +33 (0)1 14 31 64 00 Shanghai, China Artek and the Aaltos: Creating a from May 6–August 21, 2016 Thru February 21, 2016 November 7–10 Modern World at The Wolfsonian, Miami An American Modernism: Painting Post-Congress Program Bard Graduate Center Gallery Beach. Paradise Found looks Nanjing, China New York, NY and Photography at what President William shanghaiartdeco.net bgc.bard.edu/212-501-3023 New Mexico Museum of Art McKinley called the close Santa Fe, NM November 6–March 19, 2016 May 6–August 21 “ties of singular intimacy” nmartmuseum.org/505-476-5072 Music of Freedom: Jazz Through the  Paradise Found: Cuban Allure, Lens of Herman Leonard American Seduction that once existed between Thru February 21, 2016 the United States and Cuba Superheroes in Gotham Brigham Young University The Wolfsonian, Miami Beach, FL New-York Historical Society Museum of Art, Provo, UT wolfsonian.org/305-531-1001 from the 1898 Spanish New York NY moa.byu.edu/801-422-8287 May 14 American War through the nyhistory.org/212-873-3400 November 9 Avalon Ball pre-revolutionary 1950s Thru March 13, 2016 Lecture: Chicago: The Glory of Deco, Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, CA and revisits this now- Seven Masters: 20th-Century David Garrard Lowe Art Deco Society of Los Angeles distant relationship that Japanese Woodblock Prints from Art Deco Society of New York adsla.org/310-659-3326 left lasting traces in each the Wells Collection New York, NY country, from baseball and artdeco.org/212-679-3326 Minneapolis Institute of Arts COMING IN 2017 American-made cars to Minneapolis, MN November 20 February 16–June 11 rumba and rum. Glamorous artsmia.org/888-642-2787 Exhibition Tour: Superheroes in Revolution of the Eye: Modern Art celebrities, the exchange of Gotham, New-York Historical Thru March 20, 2016 and the Birth of American Television goods, and thriving tourism Frank Gehry Society Smart Museum of Art generated many of the Los Angeles County Museum Art Deco Society of New York Chicago, IL of Art New York, NY smartmuseum.uchicago.edu artifacts, advertisements, Los Angeles, CA artdeco.org/212-679-3326 773-702-0200 media images, music, lacma.org/323-857-6000 November 21–March 14, 2016 performances, and films that Silver to Steel: The Modern Designs will appear in the exhibition, of Peter Muller-Munk shaping the way Americans Carnegie Museum of Art and Cubans imagine one Pittsburgh, PA another. cmoa.org/412-622-3131

Fall 2015 7 At the Intersection of Art, Design, and Technology: THE REBIRTH OF THE CHICAGO MOTOR CLUB

BY PAUL ALESSANDRO All photos © Patsy McEnroe Photography

o one sets out to design an historic building. In every case, the buildings Nwe now call historic were, at one time, gleaming examples of modernity. Each began as a dialogue between designer and client, an interac- tion so relevant that it remains valid today. It is this conversation we endeavor to continue when we consider an old building for renovation. By examining this built history and the intersection of art, design, and technology that created it, we learn about our past and ourselves. For as long as man has walked upright, there has been a symbiotic—and at times competi- tive—connection among the three disciplines of art, design, and technology. Each influences the others and fuels their respective advances. From cave paintings that depicted the technology of the day as art, to the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans who treated art as a direct extension of design, continuing on into the Renaissance, we find these intertwined disciplines driving cultural advances. Perpetuated by the elite, the ruling class, and by artists themselves, each new style would wipe the slate of the old and introduce new ways of think- ing about how we interact with the world. Through the late 1800s, these generational shifts happened slowly. But with the advent of the Machine Age and advertising, styles flew fast and furious. Impressionism, Fauvism, German Expres- sionism, Cubism, Futurism, Constructivism, Dadaism, Surrealism, Abstract Expression- Entrance to the Chicago Motor Club, now the Hampton Inn Chicago Downtown . Fall 2015 25 The Chicago Motor Club emblem displayed Chandelier and silver-leaf ornamentation of the above the entrance to the Hampton Inn Chicago upper lobby . Downtown that now occupies the club’s former headquarters . beautiful, complete and efficient plant in the world devoted to the service of motorists.” ism—each flowing from, and yet rejecting, The Chicago Motor Club and its succes- the previous one. In many instances, these sor organization, the American Automobile schools of thought were correlated to Association (AAA)-Chicago Motor Club, architectural styles. Classical, Gothic, and Detail showing the lane line pattern of the occupied the building until 1985 when Medieval passed, leading eventually in the terrazzo floor and the legend for the major the club sold it and moved to suburban late 1800s to the Vienna Secession, which automobile routes in the U. S. in 1929 shown Aurora. Commercial tenants occupied the on the Norton mural . promoted a union of artists and craftsmen structure for the next two decades. Several and spawned Art Nouveau and eventually plans to redevelop and reuse the building Art Deco. the same time hinted at the better times that were considered but never implemented. In the heyday of modern design, the hopefully lay ahead. It embodied scientific The most recent, a planned incarnation to 1930s through the 1950s, some of the most progress and developments in commerce, luxury condominiums, was halted in 2008 by famous designers applied their skills to the technology, and transportation directly the recession. When Hartshorne Plunkard most mundane of objects. Art Deco was the tied to a fascination with automobiles and Architecture arrived in 2010, the building seed that started a design transformation motoring in this country. Faster commer- had been vacant since 2004. that brought good design to the masses. It cial transportation and its connotations Repurposing the building into its new use encompassed all manner of art and craft, of freedom, opulence, mechanization, and as a hotel presented us with several issues: but above all reflected modern technology. modernity made Art Deco an appropri- Could we modernize the building and adapt Influenced by many of the styles of the day, ate style of design for interiors of buildings it for contemporary use? How could we including Art Nouveau, Cubism, and the related to travel. Within this milieu, the reuse the lobby for both hotel check-in and new fascination with all things Egyptian and Chicago Motor Club building came to be. as a public space? How could we fit guest Aztec, Art Deco was not born of philosophi- One of Chicago’s early Art Deco build- rooms into a small and narrow floorplate? cal ideas. It was the first purely decorative ings, the club’s headquarters embodied the How could we retain the building’s unique style and was meant to unify all aspects newfound freedom to travel that the auto- sense of place and modernity? of design under a consistent language of mobile made possible. The affordable motor The restoration of the magnificent lobby’s modernity that integrated technology into car represented a seismic shift in how people focus, a beautiful mural by John Warner daily life. Although Art Deco was initially a lived. As history has demonstrated, ground- Norton, was a major concern. The mural style of luxury and a Hollywood staple, early breaking shifts in technology are often depicts new scenic routes and destinations industrial designers quickly delivered this followed by advancements in art and design. for the automobile travel the building was same elegance and glamour to a wider audi- The Chicago Motor Club was designed intended to promote. So essential to the ence. Everyday objects such as cars, toasters, by Chicago architects Holabird & Root. space, it represents that synthesis of art, furniture, and tableware all benefited from Construction began on the 16-story steel design, and technology that is simultane- the application of design, which made these and masonry Art Deco building in 1928 and ously art and decor, subject and illustration. objects desirable and highly commodified. was completed in January 1929 at the onset The mural represented the mission of the Art Deco lasted through the Great of the Depression. It was originally designed Chicago Motor Club, but over time and as a Depression. During that time, its traits of as home for the eponymous automobile result of some less than sensitive restorations, practicality, design simplicity, and streamlin- driver assistance organization. At its open- it had lost its place as a suitable heart for the ing reflected the austerity of that era but at ing, advertisements hailed it as “the most new hotel. 26 Chicago Art Deco Society Magazine The lobby was once a bustling hub of activity, crammed with guests waiting at the counter for a TourBook (later TripTik) that would guide them on their journeys over the newly paved roads depicted in the mural. Yet the condition in which we found it failed to convey that excitement and activity. Originally designed as a temple to travel, the lobby had become a way station for the elevators. The space had been covered with several coats of thick, white paint, the original light fixtures had been packed away for storage, and the original terrazzo floor, with its stylized nod to lane lines speeding past drivers headed down the highways, had been covered with white granite tiles. What remained of the original exuberant design had been replaced by a dull sameness and stagnation that masked the original sense of Mural by John Warner Norton on the west wall of the lobby. enthusiasm and movement. Ironically, the peeling lobby paint pro- vided us with the first clue to the direction we would need to take to return the space to an intersection of activity, a place where people could relax, refresh, and enjoy the surroundings. Underneath the layers of white paint we found evidence of the earlier taupe and warm grey colors that appeared to be an extension of the mural. It was clear that the mural held the key to the original color scheme as well as the concept throughout the design; its angular motifs were repeated in the details of the balcony railings and the silver-leaf trim. Additional allusions to travel, freedom, and nature included eagles and cranes adorning the columns, stylized chevrons and waves representing mountains and water depicted in the mural, the kinetic floor, and floating clouds of light hanging Staircase with Art Deco railing . from the ceiling. Once the mural was cleaned and stripped of earlier, ill-conceived repairs, the original we utilized all three of those disciplines to building another 100 years of useful life. We colors became warmer and sharper. With its guide us through the restoration and rebirth are all masters attended by silent servants original sheen restored, the mural balanced of the building. Once we knew we could who appear to us at the intersection of art, the weight of the shiny nickel and silver-leaf restore life to the lobby, the transformation design, and technology; we are lucky to details, which in turn reflected the warmer of the remainder of the building became share a moment with this building that will colors applied to the walls and ceiling. straightforward and inevitable. let others continue to experience it after we  With polishing, the dull green floor we first The modern ideas of the original have gone. uncovered came back to life, contrasting and designers of the Chicago Motor Club, as coordinating with the newly restored colors a temple to art and technology, allow it to Paul Alessandro is a partner with Hartshorne of the walls and the mural. In this building remain relevant today. Behind the beauti- Plunkard Architecture and lead architect for the that was once a temple to the ideas of design fully restored surfaces of a bygone era beats conversion of the Chicago Motor Club to the and technology as represented through art, a modern heart—a heart that will give the Hampton Inn Chicago Downtown. Fall 2015 27 P.O. Box 1116 Evanston, IL 60204-1116

1928 Ford Model A on the lobby balcony of the Chicago Motor Club, now the Hampton Inn Chicago Downtown. Photo © Patsy McEnroe Photography.

www.chicagodeco.org