Welcome to CornerSpotter, Curbed's regular game in which you, fair readers, consult archival streetscape photos or postcard illustrations to identify the building(s) and/or location presented. Time to tap that reservoir of urban minutiae and flaunt it before your fellow readers. Fire away in the comments, and we'll reveal the correct identity and backstory tomorrow.
There's isn't much to convey here beyond a rehashing of the story of 20th Century urban degradation. There was once a striking flatiron at this irregular intersection, and now there isn't. What's the market replaced it with, you ask? Something intensive and heroic? A happier, more productive, amenity-drenched streetscape? No and no. The market has allowed a triangular lawn, a beautifying sculpture, and nothing more. A similar disservice was done to adjacent lots, as this site marks a border of affluence and decay. It'll reclaim an urban form eventually, that we're sure of, but the turn-of-the-last-century quality will be hard to replicate. Students of the city, what's the address?
·CornerSpotter [Curbed Chicago]
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