On this quiet and pleasant Holiday weekend Sunday morning I read Bill Fornaciari’s (History & Architecture) piece in the Plymouth Independent. Captivating. Your engaging writing style brought the buildings to life in a manner that a quick drive by or even leisurely stroll has not.
I was especially fond of the Gilded Age discussion. Having mostly grown up in Oak Park, IL, and having raised my family in Evanston, IL, I’m not a stranger to architecture. The post-Chicago Fire Gilded Age buildings in the neighborhood I lived in just prior to coming to Plymouth nine years ago – the famous Prairie Street – and those you highlight – definitely gave me a jolt of nostalgia.
In later years, I discovered Saarinen and the MIT Chapel, his furniture and Mies Van de der Rohe, whose style assaults – but can’t be ignored by furniture enthusiasts such as myself.
I’m a health care clinician and executive with an uneducated love of architecture – and your piece tapped into that this morning and gave me such a lovely present.
Birgitta Kuehn, Plymouth
Kuehn is a member of the Plymouth planning board.