former Chicago Federal Building, USA

ScotchAndLeather says

Worth repeating every time this is posted and the comments fill up with "blah blah ruining our cities how can people be so terrible I hate humanity blah blah", but this building was replaced by the Kluczynski Federal Building, designed by Mies van der Rohe, and which is considered an International Style masterpiece. Some people love that style, some people hate it; some people love neoclassical like the prior building, others hate it. But, while it may look bland and generic today, it was quite revolutionary at the time and needs to be appreciated for it.

Second, this building wasn’t destroyed because of urban renewal or to put a freeway through or anything else. It was replaced because it was too small and it sucked as a structure. From wikipedia:

>The push for a new building was spearheaded by postmaster Washington Hesing with backing by civic leaders and the Illinois’ members of Congress. The explosion of Chicago’s population, especially after the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, strained the earlier facility beyond capacity. When the Exposition began, the Post Office Department in Chicago employed 998 clerks and 935 carriers. By the time Congress approved funding for a new building, the post office had expanded to 1,319 clerks and 1,096 carriers.[2] Other agencies housed in the building complained of poor planning and shoddy construction which resulted in crumbling plaster, broken plumbing and flooding.[3]

So, replaced a nice architectural example which was otherwise too small and shoddily built with a fully functional modern facility designed by an internationally renowned architect which is still vibrant and appreciated 60 years later.

Comments

Skydog87 says

How does a federal building like this get replaced? It’s literally on federal land.
gawag says

Gonna keep bringing this up every time something is x-posted from r/ArchitecturalRevival for those who aren’t aware: that sub is full of Nazi hacks. One of the moderators is a frequent poster on r/whitebeauty. Furthermore, the ideas on that sub are consistent with racist and regressive ideology, and do not represent the architecture community.
ScotchAndLeather says

Worth repeating every time this is posted and the comments fill up with "blah blah ruining our cities how can people be so terrible I hate humanity blah blah", but this building was replaced by the Kluczynski Federal Building, designed by Mies van der Rohe, and which is considered an International Style masterpiece. Some people love that style, some people hate it; some people love neoclassical like the prior building, others hate it. But, while it may look bland and generic today, it was quite revolutionary at the time and needs to be appreciated for it.

Second, this building wasn’t destroyed because of urban renewal or to put a freeway through or anything else. It was replaced because it was too small and it sucked as a structure. From wikipedia:

>The push for a new building was spearheaded by postmaster Washington Hesing with backing by civic leaders and the Illinois’ members of Congress. The explosion of Chicago’s population, especially after the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, strained the earlier facility beyond capacity. When the Exposition began, the Post Office Department in Chicago employed 998 clerks and 935 carriers. By the time Congress approved funding for a new building, the post office had expanded to 1,319 clerks and 1,096 carriers.[2] Other agencies housed in the building complained of poor planning and shoddy construction which resulted in crumbling plaster, broken plumbing and flooding.[3]

So, replaced a nice architectural example which was otherwise too small and shoddily built with a fully functional modern facility designed by an internationally renowned architect which is still vibrant and appreciated 60 years later.
antwoneoko says

Always loved this building, isn’t this the same photo that’s the subs icon? Lol