Eye-popping visuals for an uncommon home
As part of Silliman Group, Chicago, IL, in collaboration with Emily Hoogesteger, Interior Designer, under direction of Lindsey Philips, Art Director. Art fabrication by BluEdge. Photography by Tyler Mallory.
1400 East 57th Street is a seven-story residential building in Hyde Park, near the University of Chicago campus. Designed by Keck + Keck Architects in the 1950s, the unassuming 1400 is a surprising collage of two disparate architectural styles: mid-century modern and italianate.
Adapting 1400’s idiosyncrasies, the graphic strategy crosses 1960s fashion photography, Pop Art, and Op Art. Through public art, illustrated wallpapers, and signage, it expresses 1400’s eccentric personality to residents and neighbors.
The public faces of 1400
Across the main exterior wall at ground level is a 21-foot mural with a lenticular panel. It becomes the dynamic backdrop for residential activity, not just delineating the patio, but engaging the public street. Impossible to miss, the mural sets 1400 apart and fosters its connection with the neighborhood.
Retro Optics
1400’s lobby, lower-level amenities, and residential corridors are modest spaces. To create urbanity, movement, and depth, bold wallpapers mix larger-than-life imagery with organic abstraction and zigzag pattern. Their muted colors and halftones adapt the look of 1960s printing. Matching wall colors and interior design features complete the visual effect.
1400’s lobby, lower-level amenities, and residential corridors are modest spaces. To create urbanity, movement, and depth, bold wallpapers mix larger-than-life imagery with organic abstraction and zigzag pattern. Their muted colors and halftones adapt the look of 1960s printing. Matching wall colors and interior design features complete the visual effect.
The nod to optical illusion continues in the corridors. Wallpapers at each end share a color palette and extend graphically onto the flooring. Unit numbers are integrated into the corridors’ lighting. The typeface Bron, by Jeremia Adatte, plays on impossible geometry.
