Piece description from the artist
Chicago has been called a Museum of Architecture, and it continually upholds that honor with some of the newest, biggest, and boldest urban creations in the world while still maintaining towering masterpieces from over 100 years ago.
Located where Fort Dearborn once stood, the London Guarantee & Accident Building is one of four structures that have anchored the Michigan Avenue Bridge since the 1920s. Designed by Alfred S. Alschuler, the building was completed in 1923 for the London Guarantee & Accident Company, a British insurance firm. Its design is the epitome of the Beaux-Arts style, filled with classical references like Corinthian columns and Roman figures engraved in the stone façade. The building’s most prominent feature is the cupola that sits atop the 22-story tower. The structure is comprised of a ringed colonnade (sequence of columns) and a domed top that rise several additional stories above the main building. Taking a titular cue from the departed jazz club, the 452-room LondonHouse Chicago hotel opened in spring 2016. Major changes included a 22-story glass addition containing ballrooms and meeting spaces designed by Goettsch Partners, and an extremely popular 3-level rooftop lounge. (architecture.org)
The building’s transition from insurance mecca to jazz joint to successful hotel demonstrates its ability to stay relevant over nearly a century.
Ashland grew up in Southeast Virginia surrounded by lush rural landscapes, great protected swamp lands, national & state parks, the Chesapeake Bay, the Eastern Shore, the breathtaking Skyline Drive & Blue Ridge Mountains, and the inlets & oceans of Virginia & North Carolina.
It was this constant variation in natural beauty that first drew his eye to the camera; that, and the constant joy of capturing life's candid moments on film. Although no particular subject is banned from the lens of Ashland's camera, it is landscapes, cityscapes, wildlife, and nature that truly captures his heart.
"There's always more to see, more to learn, more to be wowed about-I just hope you enjoy what I see in the world."
A constant staple on the likes of Instagram, Flickr, and Facebook, Ashland currently resides in Chicago, Illinois, and looks forward to many more years of development, collaboration, creativity, world travel, and art.
www.ashlandthomas.com
www.facebook.com/ashlandthomasphotography
www.instagram.com/ashlandgram
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