Southern Excursion - a Journey through Chicago Architecture

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Madeleine: ...And what do you do, John?
Scottie: Oh, just wander about.
Madeleine: That's a good occupation.

A beautiful spring day in Chicago is pointless to resist, and so I found myself on my way to Ping Tom Park, my only deliberate destination.  Beyond that, I wandered, letting the streets with the great names  - Emerald, Normal, Lumber - angling and meandering along the river, lead me through a complex city, a working city.  Not the carefully contrived center, but a less planned, more organic architectural chronicle of birth, development, decay, and death or resurrection - pick your door and take your chances.  There's more true history in Bridgeport and Pilsen than in the Loop - they're at a sweet spot remove where developers less often see dollar signs in their eyes contemplating high-rises where old buildings now stand.  No empires are being built here, just life lived day-to-day, in an urban fabric that's endlessly diverse and fascinating, and, at places raw or refined, poignantly beautiful.