4629 N Broadway
An Art Deco Jewel
In Chicago, an Art Deco gem —a perfect example of how this early 20th-century style spread throughout the city— had fallen into ruin, and all its former splendor was fading away.
4629 N, originally built as a shoe store, is set in a context where terracotta was widely used at the start of the century to express the neighborhood’s vibrant spirit. In the Roaring Twenties, this area was the artistic heart of the city, full of theaters and cinemas. Terracotta became the perfect medium to showcase its vitality and flair. For this reason, the building, constructed in 1930 by Carl Hauber, featured a façade of alternating blue and white terracotta tiles, some adorned with floral and geometric elements. But the site’s true hallmark was expressed by two large Native American heads, complete with traditional feathered headdresses.
Due to frequent ownership changes, the building had fallen into severe disrepair in recent years: cracks, overlapping layers of paint, and above all missing pieces had completely distorted its appearance, worsened by a general lack of maintenance.
Luckily, the most recent change of ownership placed the building in the hands of people interested in restoring its original beauty. The new owners entrusted the Formed Space team, who joined forces with Bricks Inc. and determined that one-third of the pieces could be saved, one-third required repairs, and one-third needed to be recreated from scratch.
A precise and careful restoration effort soon began, which directly involved us — especially in recreating the missing pieces, because it’s far from simple to produce terracotta elements that can seamlessly integrate with pre-existing pieces, matching both the style and the natural wear from time. Facing these challenges, Bricks Inc. decided to turn to us, and what remained of the façade was shipped to Italy so we could use it as a model. With the original heads, we were able to take detailed measurements and approach the creation of the new pieces.
The most complicated part of the process turned out to be the glazing, as the originals were not a single uniform color but rather a mottled mix. We tried many methods: spraying, applying layers of glaze with brushes, cloths, rollers. Only after numerous attempts — all drawing on our long experience working with terracotta — did we find the best method: using soft sponges, which allowed us to faithfully reproduce the original colors and finishes. This was further confirmed by the approval of the client, which also passed through the review and scrutiny of the Historic Sites Commission.
4629 N has thus regained its former glory, and we are very proud to have played a fundamental role in this complex international collaboration, which allowed us to bring our expertise into play and keep alive the story of terracotta as a living, multifaceted material with rich narrative potential.
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