High-Rise Elegance

There is so much I want to say about this Chicago high-rise apartment, which was photographed for Architectural Digest in 1978.  First, it was decorated by Bruce Gregga, whose work I have long admired.  Gregga was adept at blending the old and the new, marrying traditional, high-style antiques with modern furnishings in a dignified, though visually rich, fashion.  The article's author wrote this to describe the apartment's entrance hall: "the richness of the antique, the contemporary thrust of glass, the angularities of modern art."  I believe that description could be applied to the rest of the apartment, too.

The other thing that struck me about this apartment is how its architecture is so very similar to that of the high-rise where I live.  There is a rigidity to this kind of late Sixties/early Seventies high-rise architecture.  In these buildings, unembellished walls and expansive glass allow the focal point to be the view outdoors, which is usually the draw for most high-rise denizens.  But those same plain walls and windows also mean that some visual softening is in order, something which can be bestowed by curvy fauteuils and commodes, comfortable upholstery, and patterned rugs.  I think this Chicago apartment displays this beautifully.

And finally, the antiques and art in this home are a lesson in quality and connoisseurship.  Furniture and objects appear to have been chosen with great care and an eye for beauty.  And in a world where there seems to be so much filler, it's refreshing to see a collection, and a home, so exquisitely assembled. 

Photos from Architectural Digest, December 1978, Tony Soluri photographer