St. Josapath Church in Chicago, outside view [Polish parishes and churches in Chicago]

The designer of the building was William J. Brinkman. The form of the church refers to Romanesque Revival architecture, especially the style called Rundbogenstil, which was created in Germany and started to be popular in the USA in the mid 19th century. It combined Romanesque, Byzantine and Renaissance motifs. Its characteristic feature was the intense use of blind arcades and rounded arches, often in the form of friezes and semi-circularly terminated openings. At the beginning of the 20th century elements of this style were still widely used in the USA, especially the blind arcade ornament.