Over the weekend I attended a bloggers and brands event at the Hard Rock Hotel Chicago, hosted by Silicon Valley Moms Group and sponsored by some incredible companies, which I’ll write about on my review blog over the next couple of days. Due to the construction mess on the Eisenhower, I left really, really early and–much to my delight–arrived at the Hard Rock approximately an hour early. It was the perfect amount of time to take a walk around the block and take some pictures of the city I love so much. I posted my favorite shots yesterday including this one, the subject of which happens to be in my top five most favorite features found anywhere in the Chicago area:
It’s the ceiling over the cosmetics department inside Marshall Field’s (Again? NO! I’ll-NEVER-EVER-call-it-Macy’s) on State Street. This ceiling, created by Louis Comfort Tiffany, was installed in 1907 and is the world’s largest unbroken example of favrile glass. The ceiling covers over 6000 square feet and includes more than 1.6 MILLION pieces of glass.
It is truly spectacular and one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever laid eyes on, in my entire (long) life. I took the elevator up to the fifth floor in order to get what turned out to be great close-up shots. As I snapped my pictures, I thought a lot about the work it took to put that up, more than one hundred years ago. I wondered…
Could those artisans have imagined that it would have lasted so long and brought so much joy to store visitors, and so much pride to Chicagoans like myself?
What would the glass-making process have been like, knowing they needed so much to cover such a large space?
Did they have a party after the installation?
Did they bring their children to the store, and stand under it just like I enjoy doing?
Did their chests puff up with pride whenever they got a chance to tell someone “I did that”?
To be honest, I could have stood right there for hours, just taking it all in, but alas I had other special things to do. That’s okay; I’ll go back very soon. In the meantime, I’ve got these great pictures to stare at…
8 Comments
Tara R.
Wow… that is amazing. Sorry I missed that when I was in Chicago… guess that means I have to revisit that fab city.
Great photo set… very nicely done.
WeaselMomma
We do live in a city of magnificent beauty.
Jason @ The Devoted Dad
Wow- that is truly amazing! The detail and craftmanship to have it stay maintained for such a long period of time– WOW!
melissa
tiffany knew his stuff. and that ceiling. wow. there is nothing like those older ornate buildings. we have some in detroit…like the opera house and the fisher theater which take your breath away. well, they take mine away. sometimes the beauty makes me want to cry. like the first time i saw the law quad at u of mich. i was in awe of how gorgeous.
anyway…
pretty pics!!
xo
Heather
OH I MISS IT. Thank God I have you to live vicariously through!
🙂
Momo Fali
I've been in that Marshall Field's store and didn't even notice the details. Probably because I was so focused on finding something to wear to Oprah. Thanks for sharing.
nycgirl0501
Wow that is gorgeous! What is it with your city renaming buildings? I heart Macys here in NYC so I have to this Marshall Fields. Is that OK to say? 🙂
Michelle
It's gorgeous. Should I admit that I've never seen that either? 🙂