Elliot Bay Silos

This trip out to Elliot Bay with the sketchers last month was a great place to observe the city's industrial roots and remind me that our waterways are a major portal to the outside world.

Being there I couldn't resist sketching the silos. Consider this an homage to the midwest and Corbusier.

Alley 24

 Alley 24 is that great adaptive reuse of the buildings between Pontius and Yale. Gail Wong (captured lower right) is equally fond of this space.

St Marks Chapel

 

This Chapel is the only completed portion of the original 1926 cathedral design. The church was envisioned with a tower more than twice as tall as the structure that stands there today. The 1929 stock market crash and depression put a halt to the construction and the bank foreclosed on the property. Glenn, the church sexton, was kind enough to show me the various planning stages the structure has undergone since that time. The red brick entry porch is an unfortunate mid-century modification to the original gothic design. The drawings in the basement - Glenn called it "The Crypt" - provide a window into Seattle design through the past century. The four massive collumns inside the church are clearly sized to support the original tower design. The translucent glass rose window, 1997, is the most recent modification to the structure. It is well proportioned and its designers were considerate of their austere surroundings.