The Sullivan Center

US History Chicago Architecture Project

Sullivan Center
by Dean & Jeremy

Initially developed because of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871,the Sullivan Center (originally named Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building/Store ) started in 1898. Louis Sullivan designs a 12-story building which is to become one of the most important structures in early modern design. In 1881 a dry-goods store was planned to be moved into the Bowen Building’s attic, located at 1 South State Street at the corner of East Madison. After nine years Schlesinger and Mayer, owners of the dry-goods store, hired architects Sullivan and Adler to start plans to remove the top floor of the Bowen building and add two stories to the Building. Then in 1902, Carson Pirie scott bought the building and then builds an addition along state street not too long after following sullivan’s original plains. 25 years later Scott built a 15-story building to act as the center’s men’s store. As Scott continues to grow the center later includes three buildings over adding to nine buildings completing what is later to become the Sullivan center. Over the years facades are covered up, exterior cast iron and terra cotta suffer from deterioration, and the cornice is removed. later Scott vacated and the complex was acquired by Joseph Freed and “associates”, who started fixing the deteriorating surface and designing the new cornice. The Sullivan Center has shown how far we’ve come since growing stronger from horrible events like the Chicago Fire, stating that even when burnt down to the ground we will continue to grow and move forward.

The Sullivan Center is located in Chicago, which I like to think is a very diverse city. There are so many different kinds of people you’ll see walking in Chicago, and there are a lot more after that. The Sullivan center is located on the corner of state and madison so there are people walking and driving past it all day long, and with it being multiple store, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, State of Illinois and more people are walking in and out of it all day as well.

The building is placed as most buildings are, not too far from the street but with enough space for people to walk comfortably on the sidewalk and other than some awnings the building is pretty independant. There are some trees along the sidewalk on the side of the Sullivan Center but not much else. One thing about the Sullivan Center is that its truly unique in its design, there really aren’t many buildings that grew bigger taking more and more buildings over time.

The Sullivan Center is a white building with a black metal base, you can tell that the building changed over time if you look at it. The design of the metal base is very detailed, quite lovely, you can tell that a lot of work was put into it. It was meant to draw people into the building to look at the displays. It really sets it apart from other buildings in Chicago. Also the building shows how architecture has changed over time from when it was build to later when it slowly began to change.The style of architecture that is put into this building is the tripartite construction which is; first floor is the base, followed by several stories that look the same and the top story is capped with a cornice or simply it’s a lot like a old time Roman pillar with the fancy looking base with a plain old center section capped with a beautiful top . The Sullivan Center was built at the end of a century heading into a new one with many people migrating to the United States from various countries and this was a very important time in American history.      

The Sullivan Center has always been a store, originally a dry-goods store. The front entrance is a beautiful black colored cornice, and entering the building is a target store. There is two revolving doors for the entrance.There were a few different ideas for the building, first they were going to add two stories onto the four story building, but it never happened, later it was painted white and then a bridge connecting the building to the railroad. plains were made, changed, forgotten and rethought finally they decided to use one of Sullivan’s ideas, he had two, a nine story building and a twelve story one. They decided to use the nine story design but changed their mind and ended up using the twelve story design. Now the Sullivan Center is used for different things, there are even floors to currently rent out. Some of the tendence include Target, the School of Art Institution of Chicago, and Gensler.

The Sullivan Center, one of the most important structures in early modern design and a Chicago landmark, built in one of the most important times in American history. Store, school, office, the Sullivan Center is so much more than these things, it shows change and progress never staying the same. The Sullivan Center stands tall with all the other buildings which is Chicago but is also singled out as part of its history.With beauty and history the Sullivan Center is truly an important landmark for the state of Illinois and the City of Chicago.

  

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baer, Geoffrey. Chicago’s Loop a new walking tour with Geoffrey Baer. [Chicago]:

WTTW11 / Window to the World Communications, 2011.

http://books.google.com/books?id=zLKapSs3sksC&pg=PA69&lpg=PA69&dq=bowen+building+chicago&source=bl&ots=wbfvsOw-gY&sig=Xoo0OvdB0YCt8RRC6oeeFsZwhOA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=FOmsUfDqDbTeyAH17oBw&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=bowen%20building%20chicago&f=false

The Rookery

The Rookery Building

by Robin and James

The Rookery building, at 209 S. LaSalle in the loop area is a beautiful and memorable building that stands as a monument to the history of Chicago. The old City Hall building occupied the land before the Rookery. The building was nicknamed the Rookery because birds came there to nest on the rooftop and external walls. The citizens began to quote the building as "a Rookery" because pigeons became such a bother, the press quickly adapted to this term and ran with it. After several attempts of naming the building, the Rookery won. 　

The Rookery building stands 12 stories high, which is 188 feet tall. It was built in 1877-1888 by two great architects by the names of Daniel H. Burnham and John Wellborn Root. When these two forces were joined together they were known as Burnham and Root. The Rookery building is very expensive, to lease the land of the Rookery building 　for 99 years cost as much as $35,000 per year. The final cost of the building was $1,500,000. 　In 2007 the building was purchased by an investment group which was advised by a European family for $73 million dollars. The building embraces a Richardsonian Romanesque Architecture which is a combination of red marble, terra cotta and brick facade. The unmatched architectural details on the interior of the walls are complemented by an affluent　and alluring environment within the building, exposed by absurd architectural features including the mesmerizing oriel staircase and stunning light court. 　These features make the Rookery a unique building which represents Chicago’s history.

Location

The Rookery building is located at 209 South LaSalle Street in the loop community area of Cook County, Illinois. The building sit very close to the street and takes up much of the streets space. The surrounding streets are rather noisy because of the area and all the noise from the traffic and trains. There are no trees or grass present but, there are other larger buildings around. The Rookery relates to others buildings around it because it consists of stones and marble like the others. It also is alike unlike other buildings. The Rookery building is brown and not in the Roman style, while the other building are white Roman style. This is classic to the Chicago School style. It is also in the middle of the financial district, the Board of Trade building and the Federal Reserve building are right there. 　The history of Chicago has an influence on the location because of the specific services that The Rookery support to the city of Chicago.

Materials

The Rookery building has big brown bricks, gold plated doors and large windows. The building also has an old dark brown color while the other building are marble, limestone or light brown. The building was one of the first steel framed structures, and thus one of the earliest skyscrapers. The building consists of load bearing bricks, red marble, gold elevators, plated glass, fireproofing, elaborate ornamentation and brick facades. It has a light gold smooth marble texture that makes up the inside lobby. This was remodeled by Barron and Root. The windows on the building have a smooth look to them, they are large and consists of big columns. 　The outside of the building has a nice old look and the roman brick with the marble and the gold leaf finish. The glass on the top of the building had a leak in it do to a lot of rain, so therefore they use a material called tar to stop the leaks. Over the years they took the tar off the roof because it was making the building look dark in the lobby, so they replaced it with a different type of glass . The building is not very tall compared to the other buildings in the area. It looks like Chicago style mixed with a roman style of architecture. The other buildings are tall and that might be the smallest building in the area.

Interpretation

The Rookery grabs your attention from its elegance , its huge windows that display formal wear for men, its golden revolving doors at the main entrance, and above that the huge window display of the staircase. The feeling the building conveys when I entered the building is a ballroom, the twirling stairs and the golden leaf patterns on the walls a very white scenery its elegance gave off as a ballroom where people got together for special occasions. The form and shape of the building is a tall square dark brown building, what stands out the most is the front of the building because its columns separating the huge display windows and the oval main entrance. The building gets its own specific identity because of its color from the rest of white or badge buildings surrounding it the shape of the building does not distance itself from the rest of the buildings, most buildings around the rookery are tall and square. the roof of the building inside is flat made of glass squares with small circle designs. inside there are a lot of small details like on the elevators I noticed doves on the doors and on some of the walls gold leaf patterns. I didn’t understand what the building was used for. I saw the small stores inside but I didn’t understand why they’re lobby was so big, but later on one of my classmates told me it was used for wedding most of the time. I didn’t find any of it puzzling but i found that, They had weddings in that building interesting. The architecture of building gave off this old abandoned look to it, one unique symbol on the building is the two birds on the building, which symbolizes the strength, dignity, and vigor of the government. which I interpreted as peaceful place when I noticed the birds. The shape of the building is Chicago school style and I can tell by the way it looks from the rest of the buildings surrounding it that it was built in the 1880’s.

Function

The Rookery has chosen a selection of different designs that stands out from a lot of the 　other old buildings in history. It has a roman template design, colored gold, which is a symbol for money and power. The building design does not cause a issue with entering and exiting the building but it does create a distraction. Inside the building had multiple businesses including Potbellies, Frank Lloyd Wright, Dean Optical and many more. Business companies used this facility as a place to handle business and negotiations. Since it became a national trademark of Chicago, they quickly made it a tourist attraction. With a lot of famous important buildings that is still there, Chicago quickly became one of the most toured place in America. Chicago had a great fire which burnt down most of the city, but was the reason for some of the new buildings we see today such as the Rookery. It shows modern day details and description from foreign countries which shows true taste in elegant designs.

Conclusion

The Rookery presents its time period. The two types of birds which nested the building were crows and pigeons, these birds symbolize money and power. The Rookery building was built by architectural partnership of two men that go by the names of Burnham and Root. This building was built with old roman bricks and marble stone of a dark brown color. The inside it was built with white and gold marble with gold plated windows and doors. This form of style came from the Architecture" which was a design of many designs that were very bright and really stood out. The Rookery stands up 12 stories approximately 188 feet and was once considered one of the tallest buildings in 1877-1888. Other buildings around this building are taller and lighter than the Rookery building and mostly consists of a light tan color and has more of the roman like structures. The Rookery building was designed with the roman columns that separated the windows and the main entrance and on the inside was built with white marble and Persian-style ornamentation. The roof is designed as a light court this embraces the Richardsonian Romanesque architecture, which was another building built known as a occasional mansion, banks, museums etc. The Richard Romanesque architecture was built in an urban style. 　The building still really stands out from the other buildings because it is now one of the shortest and it is much darker. The elevators doors are gold plated and consists several designs of different birds. The walls are white marble with gold leaf patterns. The building was purchased in October 2007 for $73 million by an investment group controlled by a European family, and advised by a Zeb Bradford of Metzler North American corp. Meaning that it was honored and appreciate not by one person but by a group of investigators. It was used for weddings and other special occasions so that other people got the chance to appreciate the building as well. The Rookery building is one of the most amazing architectural structures in the city, so therefore it represents its time period in many ways and facts that have been stated.

Bibliography

Baer, Geoffrey. Chicago's Loop a new walking tour with Geoffrey Baer. [Chicago]: WTTW11 /　Window to the World Communications, 2011.

"The Rookery: A Rich History." The Rookery. http://www.therookerybuilding.com/ building-history.html (accessed March 12, 2012).

Sinkevitch, Alice, and Laurie McGovern Petersen. AIA Guide to Chicago. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1993.

　

　

　

　

Architecture Project Essay Guidelines for the Blogpost

US History Chicago Architecture Essay

Your essay need not be limited to the following, but most of the following questions must be addressed.

Key idea/thesis:  How does this building represent its time period?

Part #1             INTRODUCTION

Remember that your introduction must orient the audience.  To do that, your intro will:

• Introduce the buildings name What is significant about the name?   
• Where it is located, what’s its height, when was it made,  
• Who created it?
• State one or two basic descriptive facts about it.
• State what YOUR  focus of the interpretation and significance in history will be

◦   Remember the key idea should be: How does this building represent its time period?

Part #2             LOCATION Start with a topic sentence.

• How would you describe the characteristics of the city or town where this building stands?
• Is the street in front busy and noisy or is it quiet?
• Does the building sit close to the street or is it set back?
• What is located on either side of the building?  Are any structures attached to the building or does it stand by itself?
• Does the building site have any trees, grass, or other landscaping?
• How does this building relate to the other buildings around it?
• What about the history of Chicago might have influenced the location?
  
  

Part #3             STYLE AND MATERIALS  Start with a topic sentence.

• Full description of what you see on the building.
• What is the color(s) of the building?  Do they contribute to the building or make it distinct from surrounding buildings? What feeling does the colors of the building convey?
• What styles of architecture is this? 
• How is it different and similar to other pieces of architecture made in the same style?
• What else was happening in the world, the country, or the city when this building was constructed?  How did this affect the building’s design?
• Does the building have any special ornamentation or details?  How do these details contribute to the character of the building?
• Does the roof and features of the roof like the slope contribute to the character of the building?
• Are there parts of the building that make it unique because they project from the walls of the building?  (balconies, porches, cornices, windows).
• Is there a rhythm or pattern to the arrangement of the windows?
• How might the shape and features speak to the time period that it was built in?

Part #4             FUNCTION in the past and today

• What was the purpose of this building? 
• If you were able to enter the building how is it decorated?  Does the ornamentation and decoration demonstrate its function?
• Is the main entrance to the building marked in a special way?  How?
• Does the design of the building make it easier to use?
• What was the economy like during its construction?  How did that impact the building and its design?
• What is the purpose of the building now? Who uses the building now?
• What have been the different uses of this building in the past? 
  
  

Part #5             CONCLUSION

·         Conclude your main points in a short paragraph that ends with insightful comments.

·         Restate how this building represents its time period in its Location, Materials, and Function

Architecture Project Description

American History – Chicago Architecture Tour

Chicago underwent vast changes since the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 which forever altered the city’s landscape.  Your assignment is to research a significant building in the area of Chicago’s loop.  Your group will research and write a history of the building in the form of a blog post.  You will use photography to capture aspects of the building’s architecture.  This photography should complement the text of the blog post.  In addition to the writing and photography, your group will present the building to the class.   

The buildings will be

• 190 South LaSalle (1991)
• Chase Building (10 S. Dearborn)
• Chicago Board of Trade (1930) (141 W. Jackson Blvd)
• Citadel Center (2003) (131 S. Dearborn)
• CNA building (333 S. Wabash)
• Field Building (1930) (Now Bank of America Building 135 S. Lasalle)
• Federal Center (1965 - 1975) (230 S. Dearborn)
• Inland Steel Building (1965) (30 W. Monroe)
• Marquette Building (1894) (140 S. Dearborn)
• Monadnock Building (1893) (53 W. Jackson Blvd)
• Rookery (1886)  (209 S. Lasalle)
• Sullivan Center (1899)  (1 S. State)

This paper needs to be typed out in google docs and finalized before the essay is entered into the architecture blog.  Your typed essay needs to be 2.5 to 4 pages double spaced with 12 point Times New Roman font with standard 1 inch borders.  You will type the presentation in google docs and share that with Mr. Wehrmann at wehrmann.ihs@gmail.com.  After your group completes a rough draft you will revise each other’s sections with the peer revision sheet.  Mr. Wehrmann will also make comments and suggestions before your final draft is complete.  Once the final draft is complete you will post your essay as a part of the architectural blog.  This blog post should include the essay and accompanying photos.  You will also present this building to the class.  Your group can decide to present your material in class or at the building’s location.

You will be graded by your teacher on the daily work and the finished project.  You will be graded by each other on your personal contribution to the project.  Each project will therefore be comprised of both an individual and group grade.