Hosted by the Chicago-Midwest Chapter
Virtual Sketching with the Chicago ICAA: North Point Water Tower, Milwaukee
The Chicago-Midwest ICAA would like to invite you to join us for our weekly virtual sketching exercise. This week's subject is the North Point Water Tower in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The Victorian Gothic-style tower is a decorative cover over an open standpipe that absorbed pulsations of water from steam engines in the pumping station below the hill. The tower was first placed in service on September 14, 1874, when the two North Point Pumping Station pumps first drew water from Lake Michigan.
The fanciful and charming structure was designed by architect Charles A. Gombert. It is similar in design to the Chicago Water Tower, but the North Point Water Tower is four years younger and 21 feet taller, at 175 feet. The tower is built of cream-colored cut limestone from the Hiram and Horace Story Quarry (later the site of Milwaukee County Stadium and now Miller Park.) The exterior is made of Cream City Brick and trimmed with dressed limestone.
Our Process
Chicago ICAA will provide reference images each Monday for the selected building or focus. You may use any media or technique of your choice.
Reference images can be found here.
Please forward a JPG file of your sketch to [email protected] by Sunday evening following the sketch date and we will post to the Chicago ICAA Instagram account on Monday afternoon. Please include your Instagram handle in the email in order to tag your sketch.
Post to your own Instagram account using #icaachicago #connectingthroughsketching #classicalarchitecture #classicismathome #virtualsketching