VINTAGE CHICAGO IL. KENT 1” METER

Procured during a vaulted sidewalk construction project, Downtown Chicago, IL. ~Imperfections consistent with age~ 4” x 2” Copper + Glass #industrial design objects Chicago has, to this day, a large amount of vaulted sidewalks. They came about when the city was raised in the mid 1800s. In an attempt to lay sewers and raise the city out of the muddy swamp it was built on, early Chicagoans came to a decision that they would install a sewer system at street level and then simply lift up every building, installing a new foundation underneath. People were left on their own to raise buildings. Some did, others chose to turn the second floor into the first floor and convert the first floor to a basement or storage. With this in place, the city then laid sidewalks at the new street level, often between 4-14 feet higher than it had been. Rather than filling in the void, often it was left empty so that building owners could use the space as extra storage.