Reliance Building

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Reliance Building
(U.S. National Historic Landmark)
Reliance Building at 20 North State Street.
Location:	Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, USA
Coordinates:	41°52′58″N, 87°37′40″W
Built/Founded:	1890 - 1895^[1]
Architect:	John Root, Charles A. Atwood^[1]
Architectural style(s):	Chicago School
Added to NRHP:	October 15, 1970^[2]
Reference #:	70000237

The Reliance Building is the first skyscraper to have large plate glass windows make up the majority of its surface area; foreshadowing a feature of skyscrapers that would become dominant in the 20th century. It is located at 20 North State Street, Chicago, Illinois, and as of 2006 houses the Hotel Burnham. The Reliance building joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and on January 7, 1976 it was designated a National Historic Landmark.^[1]

[edit] Architecture

Upper facade

The building was designed by Charles A. Atwood of Daniel H. Burnham's architectural firm, with E.C. Shankland as engineer. Its first four floors were erected in 1890. The addition of ten more floors in 1894–1895 completed the building and marked the "first comprehensive achievement"^[3] of the Chicago construction method. The building's plate glass windows are set within a tiled facade. Its steel-frame superstructure is built atop concrete caissons sunk as much as 125 feet beneath the footing.

[edit] See also

Chicago architecture

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b ^c Reliance Building, NHL Database, National Historic Landmarks Program. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
^ NRIS Database, National Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 9 February 2007.
^ Kenneth Frampton and Yukio Futagawa Modern Architecture 1851-1945 p. 63

v • d • e City of Chicago
History • Neighborhoods • Places and Landmarks • Parks • Architecture • Culture • Theatre • Sports • Media • Colleges and Universities • Public Schools • Economy • Government • Geography • Climate • Metropolitan Area

Chicago Skyscrapers

Selected Downtown Towers with 20 or more Floors 111 South Wacker Drive • 181 West Madison Street • 311 South Wacker Drive • 330 North Wabash • 55 East Erie Street • 7 South Dearborn • 77 West Wacker Drive • 900 North Michigan • AT&T Corporate Center • Aon Center • Auditorium Building, Chicago • Boeing International Headquarters • Brooks Building • Carbide & Carbon Building • Chase Tower (Chicago) • Chicago Place • Chicago Board of Trade Building • Chicago Title & Trust Center • Citicorp Center • City Hall Square Building • The Clare at Water Tower • Dirksen Federal Building • Harbor Point • Home Insurance Building • Hyatt Center • James R. Thompson Center • John Hancock Center • Kluczynski Federal Building • Lake Point Tower • Leo Burnett Building • Marina City • Masonic Temple • Mather Tower • Monadnock Building • Montauk Building • NBC Tower • Olympia Centre • One Magnificent Mile • One Prudential Plaza • Palmolive Building • Park Tower • Regents Park • Reliance Building • Richard J. Daley Center • River East Center • Sears Tower • Skybridge • Smurfit-Stone Building • Chicago Temple Building • The Fordham • The Heritage at Millennium Park • The Pinnacle • Three First National Plaza • Time-Life Building (Chicago) • Tribune Tower • Two Prudential Plaza • UBS Tower • Water Tower Place • Wrigley Building
Supertall Downtown Towers With 75 or More Floors Sears Tower • Aon Center • John Hancock Center
See Also List of tallest buildings in Chicago • Art Deco • Chicago School • Chicago architecture • Chicago City Hall • Future Chicago Skyscrapers This box: view • talk • edit