Thursday, January 23, 2025

SearchResearch Challenge (1/22/25): What building is this?

 This should be a simple question... 

P/C by Dan Russell

... but it turns out that identifying this building is either really simple... or really hard... it all depends on which tools you use!  

This leads to our SRS Challenge today: 

1.  What is the name of this building and where is it?  What style is it?  (For extra credit--why was it made in this rather elaborate style?  

It shouldn't take you long to find the CORRECT answer, but many of the tools out there in use today are giving really terrible responses.  Can you filter out the wheat from the chaff?  

Let us know what you find, and how you know that it's the right answer!

Keep searching!  

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16 comments:

  1. David SingerJanuary 23, 2025 at 3:06 PM

    It really is interesting how badly the various tools disagree!

    I started by doing a "Look Up" on the Mac. There was one result: the Wikidata page for the Museum of Regional History in Texarkana (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q28837738), which had an image of that building which was obviously NOT the building you posted.

    Onward to Bing search - again, only one hit, this time a photo on Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasa/4931183781) captioned "Islam in Downtown Denver". The photo didn't have any GPS data, so I searched for "Islam in Downtown Denver" and got pointed to the Downtown Denver Islamic Center (https://www.theddic.org). There were no photos of the building on their website, but it was easy enough to find a photo given their street address...and it wasn't correct.

    Plan C: Google image search, which pointed me to the home page of the Denver Immersive Invitational (https://immersivedenver.com/denver-immersive-invitational/) which showed their venue - the building in your photo. The webpage said that the building was the "historic El Jebel".

    My next stop was Visit Denver's page on the El Jebel (https://www.denver.org/listing/el-jebel/37902/); photo 7 on that page shows the building's exterior very clearly, and the page explains the style: "El Jebel was originally built in 1907 as a meeting hall for the local chapter of the Shriners."

    A little more searching took me to a really interesting article in *Westworld* (https://www.westword.com/news/inside-el-jebel-building-classic-denver-architecture-20604277) about the revival of the building, with lots of photos of the interior (and one of the exterior...yup, same building!).

    That was a fun detour...thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. remmijJanuary 23, 2025 at 3:21 PM

    https://wholegrainscouncil.org/blog/2014/09/separating-wheat-chaff
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_3:12
    https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/separate%20the%20wheat%20from%20the%20chaff

    courtesy of bing - vehicles look like they have mag chloride -
    and the air seemed thinner…
    Denver? Were you staying at the Warwick?
    close to Wells Fargo Center parking
    1770 Sherman St. - El Jebel
    "The first floor showcases a Turkish Style Reading Room, Flemish style billiard room, and a gothic style grill room. Each room presents a different epoch in architectural design. A Japanese Style Ladies Dressing Room and Alhambra Style Ball and Banquet Room can be found on the second floor and third floors, with exceptional design details."
    not so elaborate from the rear…
    https://maps.app.goo.gl/hB27PpeqsK1snmxa9
    https://www.nakeddenver.com/post/stepping-back-in-time-uncovering-the-rich-history-of-1770-sherman-street
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shriners
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Street_Event_Center
    https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/97001235_text
    architects: Viggo Baerresen; Harold Baerressen
    https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Sherman_Street_Event_Center&params=39_44_41_N_104_59_2_W_type:landmark_region:US-CO

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ramon GonzalezJanuary 23, 2025 at 3:23 PM

    Hi Dr Russell and everyone

    I tried searching by image on my phone on Google Chrome. Once again received zero results and went fishing

    Then tried again opening the full size image. Searched by image and zero results. I don't know why my phone does that.

    Third time. I downloaded the image. Went to Google Photos and tied Lens.

    It gave me some results.

    Mosque of the El Jebel Shrine
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Street_Event_Center

    Also noticed another photo in which the sign of the parking lot confirmed it is the correct building

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. remmijJanuary 24, 2025 at 8:51 AM

      greetings Ramon -
      if you do a 180 swing around on this view you will see the CO. capitol in the distance (golden dome)
      Central Presbyterian Church on the left
      https://maps.app.goo.gl/d4nE87G1MARQK9FB8
      https://maps.app.goo.gl/gHcCTHicSdebYDoV8
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Presbyterian_Church_(Denver,_Colorado)
      https://maps.app.goo.gl/dBkptTNWsTkVMLF96
      https://capitol.colorado.gov/history-capitol
      wonder why Dr.D is wandering the Mile High city…
      https://www.acccolorado.org/10ThingstoKnowAboutTheMileHighCity
      last sold in 2023 - $9.8M
      https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1770-N-Sherman-St_Denver_CO_80203_M10801-46881

      Delete
    2. remmijJanuary 24, 2025 at 10:52 AM

      …was trying to get some perspective on what your perspective would be…
      if MX City was on the edge of Sherman St., you would have to look over the edge
      & DOWN ~ 2070'/630m — MX City 2,240 meters (7,350 ft) to Denver (5280') below.
      Dr. D would appear ant-size as he snapped the pic of El Jebel —
      (not to be confused with the town of El Jebel - near Carbondale, on the way to Aspen…)
      ""El Jebel" means "the mountain" in Arabic."
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Jebel,_Colorado
      Popo has the Colorado 14ers beat too…
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Colorado_fourteeners
      "Popocateptl (Popo-ca-te'-petal) is a steep-sided stratovolcano that rises to an elevation of 5452 m (17,883 ft) above sea level and was popular with mountain climbers until recent activity put the summit off-limits."
      https://www.usgs.gov/news/volcano-watch-popocatepetl-acts

      Delete
    3. Dan RussellJanuary 24, 2025 at 11:05 AM

      I was in Denver for a wedding. Lovely place to wander for a bit...

      Delete
    4. Ramon GonzalezJanuary 24, 2025 at 1:23 PM

      Thank you, Remmij.

      Also interesting to me was that when I was searching for the downloaded photo, the date was February 21, 2019.

      Delete
    5. Dan RussellJanuary 25, 2025 at 6:45 AM

      Yes, the photo date was Feb 21, 2019. Ramón: can you tell us how you found that out?

      Delete
    6. Ramon GonzalezJanuary 25, 2025 at 11:15 AM

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    7. Ramon GonzalezJanuary 25, 2025 at 12:36 PM

      I'm rewriting my comment because it was not clear. I deleted the previous for that reason

      The process to find the date:

      1. I downloaded the photo
      2. Went to Google Photos
      3. As the photo was not at the top of my photos, I went to collections (in Google Photos) , then to on this device.
      4 In downloaded the photo was the last one with February 21,2019

      Also works this:
      1 Download the photo.
      2. In downloads select the photo
      3. Clicking the 3 dots, select information about the archive.

      Delete
  4. remmijJanuary 24, 2025 at 10:56 AM

    hopefully Dr. D checked with his medDr. – Denver just squeaks in — altitude sickness…
    https://wonderandsundry.com/altitude-in-cdmx/
    "Altitude sickness can occur above 1,500 meters (4,921), though severe symptoms usually happen at elevations above 2,400 meters (7,874 feet). Mexico City’s elevation is 2,240 meters (7,349 feet) above sea level, so certainly above the threshold for altitude sickness, but not so high as to make severe altitude sickness more likely."

    ReplyDelete
  5. remmijJanuary 24, 2025 at 11:08 AM

    speaking of Shriners:
    http://www.mmcoa.org/uploads/5/6/1/7/56173985/published/image0.jpeg?1654523434
    http://www.mmcoa.org/stories.html
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/daveraoul/2562628469
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qM6eub_E-o

    ReplyDelete
  6. remmijJanuary 24, 2025 at 5:35 PM

    it certainly had a design influence on its neighbors…
    1700 Lincoln St, 3rd tallest building in Denver - not counting the turrets/spires, but only the 190th tallest in the U.S..
    It is a bit of a tourist mecca - kind of a "cash register".
    https://i.imgur.com/AzfQxW9.png

    (is Ramon's photo date right?)

    ReplyDelete
  7. remmijJanuary 25, 2025 at 9:48 AM

    the San Francisco (formerly L.A.) connection -
    and other Denver locations they control -
    Non Plus Ultra
    https://npu.co/venues/#CITY-DENVER
    https://npu.co/about/
    https://www.denverpost.com/2023/12/20/historic-el-jebel-temple-special-events-venue/
    looking forward to Ramon' s answer…
    one small point I found interesting while using bing visual search - if the image was copied and searched, I got one set of results that had this as the first result - helpful - (Islam in Downtown Denver | Paul Sableman | Flickr)
    https://shorturl.at/P2TNI
    , but if pasted the url of the image in the image search box this came back - less helpful:
    https://shorturl.at/E0TjQ
    also got this at one point (from a screenshot) -
    https://shorturl.at/XpkkN

    ReplyDelete
  8. remmijJanuary 25, 2025 at 10:03 AM

    Moorish
    https://www.willemsplanet.com/2013/09/24/tuesday-moorish-revival-architecture/
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moorish_architecture
    https://www.housebeautiful.com/design-inspiration/a36009865/moorish-design/
    Moorish Revival Architecture
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moorish_Revival_architecture
    in Utah -
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltair_(Utah)
    in CT.-
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranistan
    http://www.jcrow.com/BarnumObituary.html
    in IN.-
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_National_Centre
    in SD.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_Palace
    in NYC -
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeshiva_University
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Zysman_Hall_jeh.jpg/1797px-Zysman_Hall_jeh.jpg

    ReplyDelete
  9. remmijJanuary 28, 2025 at 2:03 PM

    bonus points —
    who was the architect of the building in the foreground?
    (yes, still Denver, not Paris… 1960)
    https://media2.westword.com/den/imager/u/blog/11349041/zeckendorfpostcard_opt.jpg?cb=1694467218
    https://digital.denverlibrary.org/nodes/view/1128543
    and did any of his other buildings 'weather' the storm?
    from around the same time –
    https://shorturl.at/9Sex0

    ReplyDelete