Something funky in Rogers Park

At first glance, it's nothing special, just another dull 1960s apartment block, sandwiched between other buildings older and newer, larger and smaller.



But... what's that stuff on it?



Glorious! A wall of cream brick, broken by a perfectly proportioned band of darker brown flecked with a grid of the cream brick, and with an assortment of inset abstract sculpture in concrete.

So... did somebody just have some sculpture laying around, or what?





While these creative little bits of abstract sculpture are no doubt the highlight the building, there's also...



...one heck of an entryway, combining more of the checkerboard brick pattern from the front facade with concrete pattern blocks and a pair of demarcating brick piers. It's a tiny celebration!

It's at 1618 W. Sherwin Avenue, just off of Clark Street. It was built around 1962; the architect is N. S. Theodorou.