Marquette Building (Chicago)

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For other buildings of the same name see Marquette Building
Marquette Building
(U.S. National Historic Landmark)
View from Dearborn South of Adams
View from Dearborn South of Adams
Location: Chicago, Illinois, Flag of United States United States
Coordinates: 41°52′46.2″N, 87°37′48.25″W
Built/Founded: 1895
Architect: Holabird & Roche
Architectural style(s): Chicago
Added to NRHP: August 17, 1973
Reference #: 73000697

The Marquette Building, completed in 1895, is a Chicago landmark that was built for the George A. Fuller Company. It was designated a Chicago Landmark on June 9, 1975,[1] and it is considered an architectural masterpiece. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 17, 1973. It was a named a National Historic Landmark in January 7, 1976.[2] It is located at 140 South Dearborn Street at the corner of West Adams Street in the Chicago, Illinois Loop community area. It was one of the early steel frame skyscrapers of its day.[3] The building originally had a reddish, terra cotta exterior that is now somewhat blackened due to decades of Loop soot.

Contents

[edit] History

View from Dearborn North of Adams
View from Dearborn North of Adams

The building was named after Father Jacques Marquette, the first European settler in Chicago, who explored the Chicago region in 1674 and wintered in the area for the 1674-5 winter season. It was designed by William Holabird and Martin Roche, with Coydon T. Purdy, architects of the firm Holabird & Roche.[4]

The building features several distinct elements. It is considered an exemplary model of the Chicago School of Architecture. The architect used trademark long horizontal bay "Chicago windows" on the Marquette Building.[5] These are large panes of glass flanked by narrow sash windows. The grid-like window frames and spandrels are facilitated by the steel structure which enables non-load-bearing masonry walls.[5] The lobby is decorated with mosaic panels made by the Tiffany firm and bronze heads of native Americans, animals, and early explorers. The two-story rotunda lobby contains panels of lustered Tiffany glass, mother-of-pearl and semi-precious stones that depict scenes of the early history of Illinois.[1] The hexagonal railing around the lobby atrium is decorated with a mosaic frieze by the Tiffany studio depicting events in the life of Jacques Marquette. Additional decoration includes bronze heads of native Americans, animals, and early explorers. The revolving door panels feature carvings of panther's heads.

The ensemble of mosaics, sculptures, and bronze of the Marquette Building interior honors Jacques Marquette’s 1674-5 expedition.[6] Four bas relief panels over the main entrance by sculptor Hermon Atkins MacNeil show different scenes from Marquette's trip through the Great Lakes region, [7] ending with one depicting his burial. [8]

In the 1930s the building was the downtown headquarters for over 30 railroad companies. Its lobby connects with the D.H. Burnham & Company designed Edison Building to the west providing a pedway from Dearborn to Clark.[9] The building has been in continuous use as an office building since its construction.[3]

The preservation of this building was championed by the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois.

[edit] Restoration

It has since 2002 been undergoing a 4 year renovation by its current owners, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.[10]

[edit] Cornice

Around 1950, the terra-cotta cornice was removed from the Marquette Building when an additional story was added. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation restored the exterior in two phases: reconstructing the cornice and replacing the 17th story windows to match the original windows; and cleaning and restoring the masonry and restoring the remainder of the windows.[11]

On September 12 2006, The Commission on Chicago Landmarks honored 21 landmark buildings, homeowners and businesses with the Chicago Landmark Award for Preservation Excellence at the eighth-annual Landmarks ceremony. The award recognizes work involving notable improvements to individual Chicago landmarks or to buildings within Chicago Landmark Districts.[12]

[edit] Gallery





[edit] External links

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Marquette Building. City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Landmarks Division (2003). Retrieved on 2007-02-05.
  2. ^ Marquette Building. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2007-03-26.
  3. ^ a b The Marquette Building. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2007-03-26.
  4. ^ Craven, Jackie. Great Buildings. About, Inc.,. Retrieved on 2007-02-05.
  5. ^ a b Marquette Building. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2007-03-26.
  6. ^ Schlereth, Thomas J., The City as Artifact: The Above-Ground Archaeology of an Urban History, Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 The Encyclopedia of Chicago, p. A7. The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-31015-9
  7. ^ Riedy, James L., Chicago Sculpture, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL 1981 p26-27
  8. ^ Rooney, William A., Architectural Ornamentation in Chicago, Chicago Review Press, Chicago, 1984 p.83
  9. ^ Marquette Building. Emporis.com. Retrieved on 2007-02-05.
  10. ^ Marquette Building. Chicago Architecture Foundation. Retrieved on 2007-01-03.
  11. ^ News Department (2006-12-13). Chicago Landmark Awards. Architectureweek.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-03.
  12. ^ Newsroom (2006-09-12). Announcements. John D. and Catherine T. MacAruthur Foundation. Retrieved on 2007-01-03.

[edit] Additional sources

  • Riedy, James L., Chicago Sculpture, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL 1981
  • Rooney, William A., Architectural Ornamentation in Chicago, Chicago Review Press, Chicago, 1984


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