Bay seasons
Bay windows and bay extensions were a popular feature on buildings in Chicago. I see them often on my wanderings around Chicago so it's worth understanding their types, use and history. (The distinction between oriel windows and bay windows isn't important here.) They are decorative themselves, and they became widely used on in the later half of the 19th century in Chicago. History books tell me that bay extensions can be found as far back as the middle ages. Bay windows were a feature of Oriel Chambers of Liverpool, England, a structure built in the 1860s and still standing. Oriel Chambers is sometime credited with the first use of a metal skeleton and a curtain wall. (Note that the curtain wall is supported by masonry.) The Wikipedia article on Oriel Chambers notes that since the Chicago architect John Welborn Root had been sent to Liverpool by his family during the U.S. Civil War, he must have seen and studied Oriel Chambers, since his work in the U.S (mostly in Chicago) ...