61. Architecture

Of Cleveland's architecture, the Plain Dealer said, "It's not just one style around town. From the downtown's Federal Reserve Bank and classic churches to the Frank Gehry-designed Peter B. Lewis Building at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland isn't a bad-looking place."
My first venture into The Cleveland Project also brought the project’s first lesson:  if you’re photographing architecture, put something more than a 50mm lens in your camera bag.  Of course, by the time this occurred to me, I was already downtown.  It worked out okay, though, because instead of sweeping panoramas of familiar landmarks, I had to limit myself to the details -- and boy, are there details.  The thing that made the biggest impression is just how much beauty Cleveland has going on above street level, hiding in plain sight.




 

I walked past this church almost every day in 2006.  It's at E. 40th and Euclid and is home to the Poor Clares -- cloistered nuns whose mission is perpetual prayer.  It's an amazing calling, and the exterior of the building is gorgeous.




Detail of the top of columns in an entrance archway.




Detail from First Methodist Church, E. 30th and Euclid Ave.




This one is kind of self-explanatory.  The Cleveland Trust building is at E. 9th and Euclid.




The Cleveland Trust building (foreground) with the Ameritrust tower (background) -- Cuyahoga County's very own asbestos-filled white elephant.




I love the grand downtown department store buildings.  The May Company building sits on Euclid near Public Square.




The AT&T building (700 Huron) always makes me think of Ghostbusters.  The internet tells me that this is because they are both art deco buildings, not because there's a Sumerian god on top of the building.  What a relief.




I was vaguely aware that the Grays Armory existed, but had never seen it before -- it's tucked out of the way where Bolivar intersects Prospect a couple blocks east of Jacobs Field.




Detail of the top of one of the entranceway columns.




The Rock Hall gets its own entry later (it's #12 on the list), but it's my favorite recent Cleveland building (that is, until the new MOCA building goes up), so I included it here.




Home sweet Justice Center.  I guess it doesn't look that ugly from this angle...




Finally, Frank Gehry's monstrosity on the corner of Ford and Bellflower Avenues in University Circle.  I hated this building for a long time for its pretentiousness and showiness, but it's kind of grown on me in the past couple of years.