Landmark the Kogen-Miller and Glasner Studios!
The Kogen-Miller Studios and the Glasner Studio in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood are an architecturally unique and historic building that needs preservation and protection for future generations. Join us in asking that the Kogen-Miller and Glasner Studios be landmarked by the City of Chicago.
Many are surprised to learn that the historic Kogen-Miller and Glasner Studios have not yet been granted official landmark status by the City of Chicago. The Kogen-Miller Studios and Glasner Studio at 1734 North Wells Street are recognized by many as a unique, ornately designed artistic enclave that deserves recognition for its local and national significance in architectural and cultural heritage.
As all of Edgar Miller’s “Handmade Homes” approach their centennial anniversaries, these irreplaceable works of genius and craft must be landmarked so that they are fully protected for future generations. Edgar Miller Legacy strongly encourages the City of Chicago to landmark the Kogen-Miller and Glasner Studios.
Click below to sign the petition!
After you’ve signed the petition, learn how to make your voice even stronger by submitting a letter to the Commission on Chicago Landmarks. See below.
Write a Letter to the Commission on Chicago Landmarks
The Historic Preservation Division (HPD) is looking to hear from you to assist them in the landmark designation process for sites this year. Staff members at the HPD have limited resources and many landmark designations to process each year. Putting your voice on record and supporting a landmark designation of the Kogen-Miller and Glasner Studios in writing helps to encourage the HPD staff and Landmarks commissioners by letting them know that they have community support to landmark the historic Kogen-Miller and Glasner Studios.
Why are the Kogen-Miller and Glasner Studios important to you?
Share your thoughts and memories of the Kogen-Miller and Glasner Studios and how they are an essential part of the cultural and social fabric of Chicago. If you don’t live in Chicago, and you think the building is nationally or internationally significant (we agree!), explain why it’s important to you from the perspective of someone who lives outside Chicago.
Click below to download a sample letter to use as a guide.
FAQ
What are the Kogen-Miller and Glasner Studios current landmark status?
The Kogen-Miller Studios and the Glasner Studio at 1734 N. Wells Street make up one of the most remarkable apartment buildings in the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, and the United States, but they are not currently landmarked. The building complex is more than deserving of landmark designation to ensure its long-term protection.
What's the history of the Kogen-Miller and Glasner Studios?
In 1928, the Kogen-Miller Studios and the Glasner Studio were conceived and built by a collaboration of artist-designers and craftspeople, most importantly Sol Kogen, Edgar Miller, and Jesús Torres. The style of the building is eclectic, fusing medieval European and colonial Mexican influences, while also incorporating Modernist architectural and design trends of the period. Due to the strong influence and embedded work of Edgar Miller, the buildings are like a living museum, and are almost indescribable.
Why are the Kogen-Miller and Glasner Studios important to Chicago?
The building is one of the few remaining “artist colony” structures extant in the City of Chicago, which exemplifies the use of found objects, handmade carvings, stained and painted art glass, concrete and plaster reliefs and other artwork, used to create artist studios in which artists and craftspeople lived and worked. The building was part of the movement of artistic renovation begun by Sol Kogen and Edgar Miller in what would become known as the Old Town neighborhood, which eventually became a cohesive geographical enclave for artists through the 20th century. Notably, the significant history of the building not only encompasses the initial decades when Edgar Miller and his artistic cohort created the art colony, but it extends across generations into the 1960s and ‘70s when the building was owned by a prominent social activist, Lucy Hassell Montgomery, who used her home at the Glasner Studio as an organizing space for numerous human rights causes.
What makes the Kogen-Miller and Glasner Studios notable?
The Kogen-Miller and Glasner Studios represent a truly one-of-a-kind example of early modern urban architecture in Chicago that is totally unique in the United States and perhaps the world. The architects and artists who developed the Kogen-Miller Studios created a bohemian artistic community with a idiosyncratic character based on radical transformations of 19th century buildings with original architectural and artistic expressions. Artistic flourishes, such as interesting brick and tile work, mosaics, plaster and ceramic reliefs and wood carvings, enhanced the aesthetic impression of the structures. The building has many unique visual features that define it as a true landmark in Chicago.