![IMG_0013](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4127/4988837396_efedc463c6.jpg)
A most imposing edifice, towering over the suburban houses and 2-story commercial buildings around it, stands at Lake and Ridge in western Wilmette. St. Joseph Church is that rarest of beasts, a church constructed during the lean years of the 1930s, a time when even the Catholic church slowed its building program.
![IMG_4392](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4132/4988232759_505c64c408.jpg)
St. Joseph is unusually tall and imposing. Its most striking feature is the indented front entrance, which looms like a shallow cave sculpted out of a mountainside.
![IMG_2904](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4111/4988836700_b8bd70f38c.jpg)
The building is a mild update of traditional church styling. It's historicist in bent, but the influence of Art Deco is inescapable. It's nothing radical or stylized; the Deco is in the details.
![IMG_0052](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4146/4988837142_7821765790.jpg)
The tower, in particular, is faintly reminiscent of Bertram Goodhue's 1922 capitol building for Nebraska.
![IMG_0058](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4084/4988234479_7791d48b49.jpg)
![IMG_0072](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4083/4988836842_da2d031bf6.jpg)
Inside, St. Joseph is clean and spare. Applied ornament is almost absent.
![IMG_4389](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/4988233065_e6f6ae736b.jpg)
![IMG_4363](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/4988233251_55d619a5e9.jpg)
![IMG_4367](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/4988835896_3e0563c346.jpg)
![IMG_4360](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/4988836016_2af3491402.jpg)
Angular Deco details can be seen in the hanging lamps, the wall sconces, and the side aisle arches.
The style of the stained glass windows matches the building itself: leaning toward traditional, with inoffensively faint traces of Modernist influence, such as the geometric patterns bordering this window.
![IMG_4343](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4106/4988233667_54128071c9.jpg)
St. Joseph was designed by McCarthy, Smith & Eppig, and dedicated in 1939.
![IMG_9955](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/4988234791_4bf6d53716.jpg)
And a coda: Across the street, a beautiful associated school building harmonizes with the church's style, and somehow fails to have the sun on it every single time I pass by.
![IMG_4391](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4146/4988835426_47fbf5da83.jpg)
1 comment:
Beautiful church. Another Catholic church built in the 30s is St. Giles in Oak Park. Exterior is sort of Spanish-style. Interior is traditional and ornate, no sign of anything modern or deco.
Rob
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