Although the Great Chicago Fire leveled almost 3 square miles of the downtown area in 1871, destroying lives and property, it did clear the stage for Chicago's emergence as the country's second city. Because the industrial base was left intact, local businessmen could afford to finance the massive rebuilding that ensued. Architects and engineers from around the nation addressed the city's need for immediate and generous office space by creating the first skyscrapers. Building innovations continued in Chicago through the turn of the 20th century and well into the next 100 years, as architects sought to follow in the footsteps of these pioneers. This chapter guides you to the best of the early buildings and the many that followed.

Richardsonian Romanesque (1870-1900)

Boston-based architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-86) explored designs and forms based on the Romanesque (a style distinguished by rounded arches, thick walls, and small windows). His structures, ranging from university and civic buildings to railroad stations and homes, were marked by a simplification of form and the elimination of extraneous ornament and historical detail -- features that set his buildings apart from others of the period. The overall effect depended on mass, volume, and scale. Richardson's 1872 design for Boston's Trinity Church propelled him to national attention. In the 1880s, he completed two commissions in Chicago, the Marshall Field Wholesale Store and the John J. Glessner House, which both had a strong influence on Chicago architects, notably Louis Sullivan.

Richardsonian Romanesque buildings share the following characteristics:

A massive quality

Arched entrances

Squat towers

Deeply recessed porches and doorways

Heavy masonry exteriors

Use of rough-hewn stone

Richardson's John J. Glessner House, 1800 S. Prairie Ave. (1885-87), an elegant urban residence, still stands on Chicago's near South Side. The influence of this structure can be seen in the Carl C. Heisen House, 1250 N. Lake Shore Dr. (Frank B. Abbott, 1890), and the Mason Brayman Starring House, 1254 N. Lake Shore Dr. (L. Gustav Hallberg, 1889), two side-by-side residences on the city's North Side, and in Excalibur, 632 N. Dearborn St. (formerly the Chicago Historical Society; Henry Ives Cobb, 1892). The most celebrated example of Richardson's influence is the Auditorium Building, 430 S. Michigan Ave. (Adler & Sullivan, 1887-89), based on the now-demolished Marshall Field Wholesale Store and an important early example of the emerging Chicago skyscraper.

Early Skyscrapers (1880-1920)

The invention of the skyscraper can be traced directly to the use of cast iron in the 1840s for storefronts, particularly in New York and later in cities such as Chicago. Experimentation with cast and wrought iron in the construction of interior skeletons eventually allowed buildings to rise higher. (Previously, buildings were restricted by the height supportable by their load-bearing walls.) Following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, important technical innovations -- involving safety elevators, electricity, fireproofing, foundations, plumbing, and telecommunications -- combined with advances in skeletal construction to create a new building type, the skyscraper. These buildings were spacious, cost-effective, efficient, and quickly erected -- in short, the perfect architectural solution for Chicago's growing downtown.

Solving the technical problems of the skyscraper did not resolve how the building should look. Most solutions relied on historical precedents, including decoration reminiscent of the Romanesque, with its rounded arches; Gothic, with its spires, pointy arches, and even buttresses; or beaux arts, with its exuberant classical details. Louis Sullivan (1865-1924) was the first to formalize a vision of a tall building based on the parts of a classical column. His theories inspired the Chicago school of architecture, examples of which still fill the city's downtown.

Features of the Chicago school include:

A rectangular shape with a flat roof

Tripartite divisions of the facade similar to that of a classical column (see illustration) with a base (usually of two stories), shaft (midsection with a repetitive window pattern), and capital (typically an elaborate, terra-cotta cornice)

Exterior expression of the building's interior skeleton through an emphasis on horizontal and vertical elements

Large windows made possible by the development of load-bearing interior skeletons; particularly popular are Chicago windows (large windows flanked by two narrow ones with double-hung sashes)

Use of terra cotta, a light and fireproof material that could be cast in any shape and attached to the exterior, often for decoration

A good example of the development of the skyscraper is the Monadnock Building, 53 W. Jackson Blvd. (Holabird & Root, 1889-91; Holabird & Roche, 1893). Built in two parts, the northern section has masonry load-bearing walls, while the southern half has a steel frame clad in terra cotta. To support its 17 stories, the northern section has 6-foot-thick walls at its base. The entire building is notable for its clean, contemporary lines.

Three Chicago school examples are the recently restored Reliance Building (see illustration), now Hotel Burnham, 1 W. Washington. (Burnham & Root and Burnham & Co., 1891-95), outstanding for its use of glass and decorative spandrels (the horizontal panel below a window); the Fisher Building, 343 S. Dearborn St. (D.H. Burnham & Co., 1896), similar in its use of glass, but with the addition of Gothic and aquatic-inspired details; and the Marquette Building, 140 S. Dearborn St. (Holabird & Roche, 1893-95), which exhibits all the style's features, although the terra-cotta cornice has been removed.

A good later example (taller and more technically sophisticated than their earlier incarnations) that most visitors will pass at some point during their visit is the Tribune Tower, 435 N. Michigan Ave. (Howells & Hood, 1923-25). The winning entry of a major design competition, this 36-story tower has the neo-Gothic detailing (flying buttresses, spires, and a tower) popularized by New York's 1913 Woolworth Building and clearly shows the characteristics mentioned above.

Second Renaissance Revival (1890-1920)

Buildings in this style show a definite studied formalism. A relative faithfulness to Renaissance precedents of window and doorway treatments distinguish it from the much looser adaptations of the Italianate, a mid-19th-century style that took its inspiration from Italian architecture. Scale and size, in turn, set the Second Renaissance Revival apart from the first, which occurred from about 1840 to 1890. The grand buildings of the Second Renaissance Revival, with their textural richness, well suited the tastes of the wealthy Gilded Age. The style was used primarily on the East Coast but also in Chicago for swank town houses, government buildings, and private clubs.

Typical features include:

A cubelike structure with a massive, imposing quality

Symmetrical arrangement of the facade, including distinct horizontal divisions

A different stylistic treatment for each floor, with different column capitals, finishes, and window treatments on each level

Use of rustification (masonry cut in massive blocks and separated from each other by deep joints) on the lowest floor

The mixing of Greek and Roman styles on the same facade (Roman arches and arcades may appear with Greek-style windows with straight-heads or pediments, a low-pitched triangular feature above a window, door, or pavilion.)

A cornice (a projecting feature along the roofline) supported by large brackets

A balustrade (a railing supported by a series of short posts) above the cornice

A fine example of this style is the Chicago Cultural Center (see illustration), 78 E. Washington St. (Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, 1897), originally built as a public library. This tasteful edifice, with its sumptuous decor, was constructed in part to help secure Chicago's reputation as a culture-conscious city.

Beaux Arts (1890-1920)

This style takes its name from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where a number of prominent American architects (including H. H. Richardson [see section 1, "Richardsonian Romanesque (1870-1900)"] and Louis Sullivan) received their training, beginning around the mid-19th century. These architects adopted the academic principles of the Ecole, which emphasized the study of Greek and Roman structures, composition, and symmetry, and the creation of elaborate presentation drawings. Because of the idealized origins and grandiose use of classical forms, the beaux arts in America was seen as the ideal style for expressing civic pride.

In 1893, Chicago hosted the World's Columbian Exposition, attended by 21 million people at a time when Chicago's population was just over 1 million. Overseen by Chicagoan Daniel H. Burnham (1846-1912), the fairgrounds in Hyde Park were laid out in beaux-arts style with broad boulevards, fountains, and temporary ornate, white buildings, mostly by New York-based architects. (One of the few permanent structures is now the Museum of Science and Industry.) The style created somewhat of a classical revival in Chicago and led to Burnham's spearheading of a movement to beautify America's urban areas. (In 1909, he created a plan for Chicago that forever ensured lakefront access by the public.)

Grandiose compositions, an exuberance of detail, and a variety of stone finishes typify most beaux-arts structures. Particular features include:

A pronounced cornice topped by a parapet (a low wall), balustrade, or attic story

Projecting pavilions, often with colossal columns grouped in pairs

Windows framed by freestanding columns, a sill with a balustrade, and pediments or decorative keystones (the central stone of an arch)

Grand staircases

Grand arched openings

Classical decoration: freestanding statuary, ornamental panels, swags, and medallions

Chicago has several beaux-arts buildings, exhibiting the style's main features. The oldest part of the Art Institute of Chicago, Michigan Avenue at Adams Street (Shepley, Rutan & Collidge, 1893), was built for the World's Columbian Exposition. The Santa Fe Center, 80 E. Jackson Blvd. (D.H. Burnham & Co., 1904), across the street from the museum, is an example of a Chicago school skyscraper with beaux-arts ornamentation (the lobby also has a very grand staircase). A later example of yet another skyscraper is the gleaming white Wrigley Building, 400-410 N. Michigan Ave. (Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, 1919-24), which serves as a gateway to North Michigan Avenue.

Art Deco (1925-33)

Art Deco is a decorative style that took its name from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratif, held in Paris in 1925. One of the first widely accepted styles not based on historic precedents (the jazzy style embodied the idea of modernity), it influenced all areas of design, from jewelry and household goods to cars, trains, and ocean liners.

Art Deco buildings are characterized by a linear, hard edge or angular composition, often with a vertical emphasis and highlighted with stylized decoration. The Chicago zoning ordinance of 1923, which required setbacks in buildings above a certain height to ensure that light and air could reach the street, gave Art Deco skyscrapers their distinctive profile. Other important features include:

An emphasis on geometric form

Strips of windows with decorated spandrels, adding to the sense of verticality

Use of hard-edged, low-relief ornamentation around doors and windows

Frequent use of marble and black and silver tones

Decorative motifs of parallel straight lines, zigzags, chevrons (see illustration), and stylized florals

The Chicago Board of Trade (see illustration), 141 W. Jackson Blvd. (Holabird & Root, 1930), punctuates LaSalle Street with its dramatic Art Deco facade. High atop the pyramidal roof, an aluminum statue of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, gazes down over the building's setbacks. 135 S. LaSalle St. (originally the Field Building; Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, 1934), the last major construction project in Chicago before the Great Depression deepened, has a magnificent Art Deco lobby. A fine example of an Art Deco town house is the Edward P. Russell House, 1444 N. Astor St. (Holabird & Root, 1929), in the city's Gold Coast.

International Style (1932-45)

In 1932, the Museum of Modern Art in New York hosted its first architecture exhibit, simply titled "Modern Architecture." Displays included images of International Style buildings from around the world, many designed by architects from Germany's Bauhaus, a progressive design school. The structures all shared a stark simplicity and vigorous functionalism, a definite break from historically based, decorative styles.

The International Style was popularized in the United States through the teachings and designs of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969), a German émigré who taught and practiced architecture in Chicago after leaving the Bauhaus school of design. Interpretations of the "Miesian" International Style were built in most U.S. cities as late as 1980. In the 1950s, erecting an office building in this mode made companies appear progressive. In later decades, after the International Style was a corporate mainstay, the style took on conservative connotations.

Features of the International Style as popularized by Mies van der Rohe include:

A rectangular shape

Frequent use of glass

Balance and regularity, but not symmetry

Horizontal bands of windows

Windows meeting at corners

Absence of ornamentation

Clear expression of the building's form and function (The interior structure of stacked office floors is clearly visible, as are the locations of mechanical systems, such as elevator shafts and air-conditioning units.)

Placement, or cantilevering, of building on tall piers

Some famous Mies van der Rohe designs are the Chicago Federal Center, Dearborn Street between Adams Street and Jackson Boulevard (1959-74), and 860-880 N. Lake Shore Dr. (1949-51; see illustration). Interesting interpretations of the style by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, a Chicago firm that helped make the International Style a corporate staple, are the Inland Steel Building (1954-58), the Sears Tower (1968-74), and the John Hancock Center (1969) -- the latter two impressive engineering feats rising to 110 and 100 stories, respectively.

Postmodern (1975-90)

After years of steel-and-glass office towers in the International Style, postmodernism burst on the scene in the 1970s with the reintroduction of historical precedents in architecture. With many feeling that the office towers of the previous style were too cold, postmodernists began to incorporate classical details and recognizable forms into their designs -- often applied in outrageous proportions.

Postmodern skyscrapers tend to include:

An overall shape (or incorporation) of a recognizable object not necessarily associated with architecture

Classical details, such as columns, domes, or vaults, often oversized and used in inventive ways

A distinctive profile in the skyline

Use of stone rather than glass

190 S. LaSalle Street (John Burgee Architects with Philip Johnson, 1987; see illustration) brings the shape of a famous Chicago building back to the skyline. The overall design is that of the 1892 Masonic Temple (now razed), complete with the tripartite divisions of the Chicago school. Another amalgam of historical precedents is the Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State St. (Hammond, Beeby & Babka, 1991). An extremely modern interpretation of a three-part skyscraper -- but you have to look for the divisions to find them -- is 333 Wacker Dr. (Kohn Pedersen Fox, 1979-83), an elegant, green-glass structure that curves along a bend in the Chicago River. Unlike this harmonious juxtaposition, the James R. Thompson Center, 100 W. Randolph St. (Murphy/Jahn, 1979-85), inventively clashes with everything around it.

Rival Revivals: Architectural Styles in the Late 19th Century

During the latter half of the 19th century, several architectural styles -- including Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Renaissance Revival, Second Empire, and even the exotic Moorish and Egyptian Revivals -- existed in Chicago. What these styles share is a certain eclecticism and picturesqueness. Mid-century architects reasoned that no age had produced the perfect architectural expression, so why not borrow freely from the best of the past and even mix different styles on the same building?

Although some of these styles were popular, none became dominant. In the 1870s, technological advancements and imaginative design came together in Chicago to create the world's first skyscrapers -- the style that would one day dominate America's downtowns.

Fragments of Chicago's Past

For a glimpse of the city's past, head to the Art Institute of Chicago, where you'll find a permanent installation of architectural fragments on the second floor and, on the museum's east side, a reconstruction of the Trading Room from Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan's demolished Chicago Stock Exchange, which includes beautifully stenciled wallpaper designed by Sullivan. More architectural fragments are embedded in the base of the Tribune Tower at 435 N. Michigan Ave.