Talking Bricks

A couple weeks ago, I took myself on an odyssey to get a treat

from The Flying Cupcake shop on Massachusetts Avenue.

I didn't walk a straight line up the street to  the bakery, 

but one more like the flight path of a monarch butterfly as I

took the opportunity to explore a few of the alleyways.

I enjoy looking at old brick, seeing the oxidation and wear

time has made on the structures. In fact, I feel as though I can

even smell the bricks; on sunny days it seems as though

the bricks are telling me their stories in the clay-ey

aromas radiating from their surfaces.

Textured Tuesday: Haphazard

Someone has laid these bricks around the base 

of bushes in their front yard. 

The reason for this is not apparent because

the area is not large enough to be a patio,

nor or is there any consistent

pattern to the layout.

No matter. In winter snow adds interesting

contrast between the clay and the

rows of holes. In summer, the leaves

overhanging the bricks give both an unusual

twist with positive and negative shapes.

  

Textured Tuesday: One Brick

Imbedded in the sidewalk, this one brick emphasized 

both the gritty texture of the sidewalk and its own burnt

clay surface.


UPDATE: During my walk this afternoon, 
I happened to meet the property owner where this brick lives.
When I asked him its significance, he told me it was one 
of the bricks that originally paved the Speedway.
- Slw, March16, 2012

A Molar Grid

Graffiti reminding me of giant, evil molars have appeared

at various places around town. Had the tagger intended

to leave biting commentary? 

Otherwise, the varied sizes and colors of the bricks

provide the interest in this wall.

In other places, the hidden drunks would have left

their empty bottles shattered in the gutter. Here,

they were capped and left on the limestone sill,

a lonely, empty couple.

Generally, the alleyways of Indy seem to be 

comparatively tidy, with some of them actually being 

little side streets, left over from earlier centuries.

This one may seem longer because of the 

slanted lines of the parking garage 

sweeping into the distance. 

Paving the Way

It's about eight in the morning and, as a breeze still wends its way through the area, crews are busy all around downtown, trying to get as much as possible done before the heat of the day smothers any urge to work. The men in these pictures are working to repair and replace brick pavers that have become loose or broken in the streets and sidewalks around Monument Circle.


The photo above shows an air hammer being used to chip away the underlying cement and base, not only to improve the foundation for new bricks, but to prepare it for new curbing. It's a fairly selective annihilation; even as the workers pull up the existing bricks, they're trying to save as many of the pavers as possible. Not only will this cut down on the expense for replacements, it also helps to maintain a kind of patina from daily use, which the new pavers would not have. The piles of bricks below will be blended together as they are laid in order to avoid too much contrast between old and new.

The man below is taking a few moments to verify his calculations for the number of pavers needed to complete the project. As the project manager, he's hoping he won't need to order very many more of them, if at all. Lying on his foot he has a working drawing of the area and in his hands a little contractors' reference manual used to look up formulas for various calculations. 

He's got a bit of figurin' to do because the bricks are not only being replaced as needed, their numbers are being increased with changes in the layout of the streets and sidewalks. The following photo shows the markings made at the northwest corner of the intersection of Washington and Meridian Streets; it appears Washington Street is being narrowed with the sidewalks to become wider to provide a more friendly, boulevard atmosphere for pedestrians. The white marks indicate the cut lines for the workers who'll remove the pavement, but the writing indicates "Do Not Cut Bricks." Earlier I'd seen an older layer of bricks beneath the existing pavers. Perhaps they plan on using some of the them, as well, if they can be salvaged.

There aren't any letters to give a clue to the meanings of the orange and red hash marks, but that's a question for another day. These markings extend from the pavement on into the sand and gravel base of the new work. The ones shown above lie to my left as as I looked west on Washington Street to take this picture.

Loo with a View

I went to work on Friday, a short-term temp assignment. Of course, I took my camera with me and found several opportunities for pictures, including portions of the brick-paved sidewalks and streets near Monument Circle. There is a lot of construction taking place downtown, primarily maintenance and improvement of existing streets. It's time for the bricks to be reset because the base has loosened or worn away, causing the pavers to rattle and rock when walked or driven on.  

The reworking in this area of the brick pavement appears to be an effort to make a bigger arc in curbing at the street corners just south of the Monument. (An arc in a corner? Huh?) The bricks were first laid about thirty years ago in an effort to improve the appearance of the Circle and to attract visitors to the downtown area. During the Christmas shopping season, the Monument is decorated with strands of lights and becomes "The World's Largest Christmas Tree."

I took a number of pictures through the bus window as we rode into town, among them the pictures of the new Wishard Hospital construction site below. The hospital began as City Hospital in 1859, opened first to treat victims of a smallpox epidemic, then served as a military hospital during the Civil War, treating about 13,000 sick and wounded soldiers. The hospital changed and grew with the people of the city; among many other "firsts," being the first of the city's hospitals to treat African-American patients, to admit African-American physicians to practice at the hospital and, in 1943 graduated its first class of African-American nurses from their diploma nursing program. 

Since 1909, Wishard has been affiliated as a teaching hospital with the Indiana University School of Medicine. With that affiliation and growth, the hospital building has become a warren of tunnels, clinics, offices and hallways to the point there was no other place to grow. In 2009, Wishard reached a land lease agreement with IUPUI to allow the new facility to be built. It's expected to be completed in 2014.

I am going out on a limb, but I do believe the concrete column above is an embryonic elevator shaft. At top left of the column's forms there is a green rectangle which has all the proportions and appearances of a portable toilet.

Right now, the penthouse with the best view around is a green plastic outhouse, a loo with a view.

                                             

While there have been as many as five cranes on site, this photo shows only three. The area surrounding the main construction site is a small village of contractors' shacks, replete with various types of heavy equipment. Obviously, it's a hole in the ground that needs my attention, but I need to figure out how the SDP camera can get to it. Hmmm.