What does "herr2ck" mean?
The name of this project comes from John Herrick, campus planner of Ohio State from 1956 to 1967. Herrick compiled documentation of every single building on campus, knowledge that is preserved to this day on Ohio State websites. "The Herrick archives...present what is likely the most complete record of a university campus to be found anywhere in the world." (2005 School of Architecture memo)
In his spirit I sought to document every building that is or ever was on campus, explain their history, and give my sardonic takes on the architecture or general contributions to campus in a way that’s reasonably accessible to the average college student (so a more Gen-Z perspective). Since I have concluded my campus architecture survey, I have expanded to buildings I find interesting elsewhere.
Who/what is herr2ck?
I'm a University of Illinois graduate architecture student (and Ohio State alumnus), amateur photographer, and armchair architectural historian. I write to expand public knowledge of the seemingly mundane buildings that make up our urban fabric in an effort to encourage people to slow down a bit and look around.
Why document a bunch of random old buildings?
My two inspirations for making this site were legendary architectural historian Richard Nickel and the website nailhed.com. The former is well known to preservationists: a photographer who documented Gilded Age architecture in Chicago as the Modernist-era plague of urban renewal knocked these buildings down with fervor. The latter I found randomly while browsing Reddit--a commenter linked his article on the Packard Plant in Detroit. Though his content depicts a much more desolate Detroit from 20 years ago, his thoughtfully researched and sometimes harshly worded blog posts were very entertaining to read. It’s said that architecture involves constantly changing and improving upon earlier precedents, and in that same vein I want to make my own way forward, taking inspiration from the work of these two. In terms of photography, I admire the work of Carol Highsmith and seek a similar approach.
What kind of places do I focus on?
Cities that I have lived (or am currently living) in, county seats, large cities, places that have designs by my favorite architects (Sullivan, Wright, Elmslie, Burnham, Richardson, Furness, Yost), places I've visited on vacation, etc. I like skyscrapers but I enjoy things with a human scale more.
How do you research your posts?
Pretty much all of my sources are publicly accessible online. For my earliest Ohio State stuff, I started with the John Herrick Archives (which usually painted 95% of the picture) and then filled in whatever else has happened since the the 1970s. Nowadays, I use several different sources:
- National Register of Historic Places listings (if applicable) - these go into exhaustive detail about a building's architectural and historic significance, frequently citing sources I would not otherwise have access to. They are written by professionals and very rarely make mistakes.
- Sanborn maps - basically the Google Maps of the late 19th century, these fire insurance maps detail historic buildings in their original context (which may have been altered since). They're good to pinpoint a range for date of construction, if it is unknown.
- County auditor websites - these generally note an approximate date of construction and the original owner of a building (if built after ~1920)
- Wikipedia - I know Wikipedia is controversial, but it's edited and monitored by a bunch of nerds like me who care about having correct information. I usually go through Wikipedia pages' sources, though they are sometimes dead links, and then I have to cite the Wikipedia article itself. It's usually a backup for me unless there's really nothing else I can find
- Books - I don't use these super frequently. I own a few books like A Field Guide to American Houses and AIA Guide to Columbus that have been helpful for my posts, and I read the entirety of Architecture: Columbus and took notes. I like to read, but I don't always have time to read through other books that I could be using as sources.
- My own architectural history knowledge - this actually gets me pretty far. Knowing a laundry list of architectural styles will reliably date a building within a certain range. Even if the architect and other information is unknown, both my education and experience writing all this stuff has given me a good eye for design.
Why don't you have as many photos of building interiors, especially on your post-OSU stuff?
Interior photos are often difficult to get. The only places I've had guaranteed success are those that have a public/civic function (e.g. county courthouses, libraries, train stations), or tourist destinations that are open to visitors (museums, Frank Lloyd Wright houses). Many other building types limit public access and photography. I've particularly had trouble with banks (for security reasons), residential buildings, and office buildings.
Disclaimers
I try to stay objective as much as possible, but my thoughts in regards to historic preservation, certain styles of architecture, and social issues will become very apparent upon reading a few articles. My argument is this: no contemporary work of architecture, no matter how grand or ambitious, is worth tearing down an important historic building. Although restoration may not be the most cost-effective approach, it is the one that favors the aesthetics of the city and preserves character. If city officials focused less on profits and what’s in and out of style, and more on history and public opinion, our cities would become a lot more beautiful and functional.
I don't use generative AI for any purpose on this website (e.g. proofreading, writing, generating images), period. Everything featured is my own original writing. Aside from the ethical implications, I think that there is inherent value to human-written articles, which AI cannot match.
I am a busy architecture student. I try to complete at least one article per day, but this is not always possible. In addition to my college workload, I have an ever-increasing backlog of photos to get through, so things are going to be posted much later than I actually photograph them. My "Entries by Location" page has the full list of places that are awaiting articles. Also, I have to do all of the administrative nonsense involved with posting everything, such as identifying places I want to go next, mapping out the places I want to go next, linking, re-linking, proofreading, updating every single page every time I post new stuff, updating the My Maps, etc. It eats up a LOT more time than you'd think.
I don't edit my photos beyond cropping/rotating them, except in rare cases where I'm shooting into the sun (facing south) and need to correct the exposure.
I have a series of pages that briefly outline an architect or style, which are linked on my "Entries by ___" pages. When I started this blog in 2024, I intended to complete one of these for every single prominent architect that has a work featured on this website, but with my now-massive backlog of photos and scope creep, I doubt that will be possible at this point without extreme effort. (The amount of work I put into this blog rivals a part-time job.) I still intend to finish the style pages and some of the architect pages at some point, but they aren't a big priority to me right now.