Today I happened upon a building which was delightfully peppered with sculptured glass block. I haven’t seen much of this stuff outside of Chicagoland where it was popular in the 1960’s, so I did some digging online. Soon I was rewarded with A Chicago Sojourn – an absolute must for anyone who loves the architecture of Chicago. Thanks to this addictive blog, I can now identify the patterns of the blocks shown below. Made by Pittsburgh Corning, the blocks are properly known as “Sculptured Glass Modules”. They were offered in four patterns which were introduced in 1958.
This mid-20th century office building is rather non-descript except for the colorful glass blocks which enliven it.
From left to right: Wedge, Harlequin, and Leaf.
From left to right: Wedge, Harlequin, and Pyramid.
Wedge and Leaf are aesthetically at odds with the recently added wood planter and window casing.