Architecture

Union Station — Day 120 /  by Adrian Galli

Chicago Union Station was first envisioned by famed architect Daniel Burnham. Ultimately designed by Graham, Anderson, Probst and White, Union Station opened in 1925 after ten years of construction. The station was built by a "union" of four railroads to accommodate the ever expanding demand for passenger rail to and from Chicago. Construction included not only the station itself, but also the rail yards coming into the station and the many blocks of viaducts and bridges necessary to separate trains from other traffic.

Its awe-inspiring looks are the result of sweeping limestone exteriors (quarried in Bedford, Indiana) and larger-than-life ornate interiors. This grandeur is best experienced in the Great Hall, the station's main waiting room spanned by a 219-foot-long, barrel-vaulted skylight that soars 115 feet over the room. The skylight ceiling was blacked out during World War II in order to make the station less of a target for enemy aircraft.

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The Kemper Building — Day 119 /  by Adrian Galli

The Kemper Building, the world’s tallest marble-clad office building when it opened, remains among the [Chicago’s] tallest skyscrapers. The tower's striking white exterior and strong vertical lines place it squarely within the city’s Modernist tradition. The Kemper Building originally featured a 360-degree public observation deck, including dramatic views of the Chicago River and other nearby buildings—though this attraction was closed within 10 years of opening. This 41st-floor observation deck was reopened for the first time in more than 40 years during Open House Chicago 2012.

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Old Republic Building — Day 117 /  by Adrian Galli

The Old Republic Building is a 23-story office skyscraper designed in the Classical Revival style with finely detailed white terra-cotta crafted by the Northwestern Terra-Cotta Company. It was commissioned by businessman Herbert Bell as the headquarters for the Bell and Zoller Coal Company and originally named the Bell Building. In 1956 it was sold to the Old Republic Life Insurance Company and has since been known as the Old Republic Building. Located on the northeast corner of North Michigan Avenue and East South Water Street, the building was one of the first tall buildings to be constructed on the newly widened North Michigan Avenue south of the Chicago River in the early 1920s. The building exemplifies the commercial development that occurred in the 1920s as a result of major improvements brought about by Burnham and Bennett's 1909 Plan of Chicago, including the construction of the North Michigan Avenue bridge and the northward extension of Michigan Avenue as a wide Parisian-style Boulevard.

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DuSable Bridge — Day 116 /  by Adrian Galli

Like Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett's 1909 Plan of Chicago itself, the bridge’s design is Beaux Arts. It has a distinctly Parisian flair. Thomas Pihlfeldt, Hugh Young and Edward Bennett designed it to resemble the Alexander III Bridge over the Seine in Paris.

The four bridge houses provide a canvas for bas-relief sculpture depicting pivotal moments in Chicago history:

  • The arrival of French explorers James Marquette and Louis Joliet

  • The first settlers, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable and John Kinzie

  • The Battle of Fort Dearborn

  • Rebuilding after the Chicago Fire of 1871

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Tribune Tower — Day 115 /  by Adrian Galli

In 1922, on the occasion of its 75th anniversary, the Chicago Tribune announced an international competition for a new downtown headquarters.

The competition sought, "...for Chicago, the most beautiful building in the world." A total of $100,000 in prize money was offered with a $50,000 prize for the winner.

More than 260 entries from 23 countries, and a place in history as one of the largest, and most important architectural competitions in America—this is the legacy of the Tribune Tower.

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Chicago Athletic Association — Day 114 /  by Adrian Galli

The CAA is an integral part of the historic Michigan Avenue streetwall, yet its details set it apart. Patterned after the palace of the Doge in Venice, its most notable feature is a course of distinctive, criss-crossing arched windows. Behind the elaborate facade are two lavish lobby levels, the second offering cozy seating clustered around several fireplaces.

The fate of the building was murky when the Chicago Athletic Association closed in 2007. After a few perilous years, a meticulous restoration began, led by Hartshorne Plunkard Architects. Historic interiors were painstakingly brought back to life, and interior architects Roman + Williams brought together of-the-moment interior design with references to (and even reuses of) sporting elements from the building’s past. New high-speed elevators are lined with old squash court flooring, and every guest room has a bench in the shape of a pommel horse.

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Chicago Cultural Center — Day 113 /  by Adrian Galli

Completed in 1897 as Chicago’s first central public library, the building was designed to impress and to prove that Chicago had grown into a sophisticated metropolis. The country’s top architects and craftsmen used the most sumptuous materials, such as rare imported marbles, polished brass, fine hardwoods, and mosaics of Favrile glass, mother-of-pearl and colored stone, to create an architectural showplace. Located on the south side of the building, the world’s largest stained glass Tiffany dome ― 38 feet in diameter with some 30,000 pieces of glass ― was restored to its original splendor in 2008. On the north side of the building is a 40-foot-diameter dome with some 50,000 pieces of glass in an intricate Renaissance pattern, designed by Healy & Millet.

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NBC Tower — Day 112 /  by Adrian Galli

The design, by Adrian D. Smith of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, is considered one of the finest reproductions of the Art Deco style. It was inspired by 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, which is NBC's global headquarters. The tower is further enhanced by the use of limestone piers and recessed tinted glass with granite spandrels. The building takes additional cues from the nearby landmark Tribune Tower with the use of flying buttresses. A 130 ft (40 m) broadcast tower and spire tops the skyscraper. WMAQ and WSNS have STL and satellite facilities on the roof; the STLs link to WMAQ and WSNS's transmitter facilities atop the Willis Tower. WMAQ radio/WSCR studios and STL were located in the building until 2006 when they relocated to Two Prudential Plaza.

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The Art Institute of Chicago - Day 111 /  by Adrian Galli

Daniel H. Burnham was selected as director of works and emphasized architecture and sculpture as central to the Fair. The buildings around the Court of Honor were designed in Neoclassical style and painted white, which lead to the fairground’s nickname, “White City.”

The Art Institute is a unique example of a collaboration between the trustees of the Art Institute and the fair committee, which put up close to one-third of the cost in exchange for its use for the duration of the Fair. From May through October 1893, it was utilized as an auxiliary building that housed the popular international assemblies and conferences. In November, interior conversions began and a members’ reception was held on December 8 to christen the new location of the Art Institute, whose expanding art collection had outgrown its previous location.

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