They All Fall Down

They All Fall Down: Richard Nickel's Struggle to Save America's Architecture
by Richard Cahan (288 pages)

During our March meeting we will be delving into architecture and somewhat specifically Chicago architecture. Richard Nickel was a photographer and staunch advocate of saving Chicago's architecture from the Daley wrecking ball. He in fact died trying to save remnants from the old Chicago Stock Exchange building in the early 70s.

"Richard Nickel, whom I had the delight of knowing during his all too brief life, is one of the unsung heroes of Chicago architecture. He was not an architect himself, nor a designer. He simply took pictures, but what pictures! He was, for want of a better description, one of the most sensitive of architectural photographers. More than that, his life--and ironically, tragically and poetically, his death--were fused to Chicago architecture. How he died tells us how he lived: for the beauty in the works of Sullivan, Wright and the others. His story is one that must be told." --Studs Terkel, author

"He was completely understanding of architecture and genius and of the quality of the work he was dealing with. He was single-minded in his pursuit and dedication to quality in history, art and architecture. That is an increasingly rare quality." --Ada Louise Huxtable, former New York Times architecture critic

"Richard was an excellent photographer--sensitive and intelligent, and a very good craftsman". --John Szarkowski, former Director, Photography, Museum of Modern Art, New York

"Richard Nickel was one of those who saw architecture, and who passionately and skillfully pursued its portrayal. He was one of a very small number, and to make his work known would be a fundamental service to architects, students, and teachers as well as to the art of architecture." --Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., architectural historian