Friday, July 26, 2013

SMITH BUILDING


[A store entryway, somewhere in downstate Illinois. Click for a larger view.]

Words from hexagons: a beautiful feature of the dowdy world.

I once lived in a Boston apartment building with “THE GRESHAM” tiled into the entryway floor. How come I never took a photograph?

Another tile-centric post
96th and Lexington

[Dad, I saw this floor after I made your card.]

comments: 4

Sean said...

Seeing this sign, you'd think you'd dowd' and gone to heaven. :)


(I think I may have used that already.)

Michael Leddy said...

Especially if your name is Smith.

(Your pun is new to me, I think).

Berit said...

This is awesome! I love the tile murals in in the subway, and always despair when I see how filthy they almost invariably are.

Your idea for a card is top-notch (everyone knows hexagons are the best shape.)

It's not quite the same thing, but have you seen the Met's Arabic art section recently? They refreshed it a few years ago and it features some incredible tile work.

They had moroccan artisans in to create a tiled "courtyard" replica which is a real thing, but the very best is an AWESOME 13th century tile prayer arch. It is so incredible that I'd entreat you and your dad to make a pilgrimage with no preliminary research. (But, it's likely you have seen it...The courtyard is new in the last 5 years, but I have no info that the mihrab has not been in their collection for some time.)

Also, I too enjoy seeing numbers under 100 written out. (Could it be called "romanization"? Japanese rendered in our alphabet is said to have been "romanized"; along the way I co-opted that term.)

Michael Leddy said...

I’ll remember the Met Arabic section for a future visit. I was there last year and the year before, but elsewhere in the museum.

I don’t know if there’s a word for numbers as words, but I like the idea of words whenever possible. I’d think of Romanization as that I, V, X, L stuff. :)