Asylum
Established in the 1870s as the Northern Illinois Hospital and Asylum for the Insane, the historic hospital grounds in Elgin, Illinois, feature a remarkable collection of buildings spanning the institution’s history. Among the most distinctive are the mid-century additions designed by Bertrand Goldberg, the architect of Chicago’s Marina City. Their bold forms, particularly the circular medical building and its sweeping concrete arches, stand in striking contrast to the older brick structures and the surrounding landscape.
I spent several hours stealthily photographing the largely abandoned site, drawn to its unusual architecture, weathered surfaces, and the quiet atmosphere of buildings no longer serving their original purpose. The series moves between broad architectural views and more intimate studies of form, repetition, and detail. Edited in black and white, these photographs offer a quiet record of a place where ambitious design, institutional history, and the passage of time have become inseparable.
