![IMG_9228a](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4068/4676819127_bdc8e89eb7.jpg)
6747 W. Cermak Road, at Oak Park Avenue
![IMG_0724a](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4139/4806962197_0c66d26478.jpg)
Bryn Mawr, west of Sheridan
![IMG_4605a](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1286/4676819009_e4d64df75e.jpg)
![IMG_1501](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4142/4806801787_c2e992b344.jpg)
2755 W. 63rd Street at California
This one is the most basic model - rectangular blocks with a glazed, colored face, with horizontal banding lines on top and bottom. This model serves on countless storefronts around the city, both on corners and in the middle of the street wall.
![IMG_1020](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/4805031831_6a1baff7f8.jpg)
Clark Street - Lakeview. Whatever this building may have once been, it's now buried under an awful asphalt shingle mansard roof, except for this forlorn little corner peaking out at the alley.
![IMG_1332](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/4805038389_23a6b02620.jpg)
Here on Chicago Avenue, the worst slipcover job ever has partially given way to reveal the stock Streamline facade beneath.
![IMG_8162a](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4097/4807544346_c5383bcfc3.jpg)
The same idea was used to greater effect on Devon Avenue, where a corner didn't require the entry to be round.
![IMG_8146](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4040/4676938033_895ec207ef.jpg)
Devon Avenue
![IMG_1515](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4006/4680726829_a31d48813b.jpg)
The same model is used on a tiny free-standing building where Grand and Chicago intersect.
![IMG_5181](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/4676939389_01ae0b4ef8.jpg)
And again in a storefront at 6719 Northwest Highway.
![IMG_1246](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4139/4805662078_1801aed725.jpg)
On this North Avenue building, the same effect is achieved with metal panels. This building has had a renovation / add-on that really fights against its host building. Apparently, Streamline just doesn't have the same allure as rustic Swiss Alpine.
![IMG_1245](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4141/4805661252_c4d6dbdf5e.jpg)
You could pull the same effect off in concrete or limestone, too:
![Gandhi Electronics](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2067/2229771270_841dd29e80.jpg)
Simple and Streamline weren't the only word in corner commercial chic, however. The varied vagaries of Art Deco offered an array of options for the shopkeeper willing to spend a bit more on his facade, and there are some beautiful examples here and there.
![IMG_4602a](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/4676819417_10f2831f52.jpg)
3001 W. 63rd Street
![IMG_6525](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/4676818675_e59411999a.jpg)
3324 W. 55th Street
![IMG_4635](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4052/4677449496_60d08038ce.jpg)
Archer Avenue at Richmond Street
2 comments:
I know for a fact that several of these were built to house the burgeoning chain stores of the 30s and suspect the same is true for most of them. These are the proto-strip malls.
Most of these are simply tragic, especially for a lover of deco/streamline like myself. Fifth/Third Bank did a good job and their signs blend pretty well with the building but - OMG - The Lodge. The owners ought to be arrested.
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