Love Architecture? Visit the Schools in Chicago
Architecture two Chicago schools have created high influence in America on architecture. The city in the 1800s was rebuilt after Chicago fire, and it became prominent for its architectural innovation.
There are tours conducted taking you to the past revealing the architecture history and its highlights sharing facts and fun information about important features. Apart from its exterior, there is a host of gems in architecture in Chicago.
The Chicago Schools
The Chicago School presents an architectural style of the 20th century. It had the first design in steel frame construction and is well known to be the skyscrapers birthplace. The Chicago School has a unified aesthetic, and it is diverse in styles and techniques. The school buildings have a steel-frame construction with masonry cladding or terra cotta.
The “Second Chicago School” was established in the 1940s and 1970s following new technologies and is known for pioneering in buildings the tube-frame structure. This helped in designing the taller building with fewer columns in the interior and thus had more floor space.
Examples of architecture
Architecture buffs on their visit to Chicago should visit these impressive examples representing Chicago-Style.
The Sullivan Center
The Sullivan Center was designed by architect Louis H. Sullivan and was built in 1903. This is the excellent example of the architecture of the early modern style of construction. It features the classic Chicago skyscraper and the entry way rounded on the State Streets and Madison corner.
The Reliance Building
This was built in 1895 and is known as an iconic building as it was the first skyscraper featuring large plate glass windows in its surface area. This feature is followed and common in most of the skyscraper built now, however, in those days, this was a revolutionary architecture. The Reliance Building is a National Historical Landmark.
The Gage Group Buildings
The buildings of this group denote the style difference between those time two leading architecture groups. The construction of Holabird & Roche was streamlined and straightforward style, and the Sullivan building presents an expressive exterior.
The Wainwright Building
This building was designed in 1892 by Louis Sullivan. This is a 10-story office building featuring red brick and was listed in the Historic Places National Register. This became the modern office building model. The decoration presented ornate leaf foliage in between the windows and the cornice below that you will notice the details are amazing. Each intricate work represents the finesse of their architectural skills.
The Wrigley Building
This building is stunning and presents a beautiful huge clock tower dramatically standing that anyone could miss to see it in downtown Chicago. The Wrigley Building looks amazingly beautiful at night as it is entirely lit with floodlights and it has glazed terra cotta with a bold white façade. This was the office building with air condition in Chicago and was a real innovation, but now the same houses the international Consulate Generals from Ireland, Austria, and the U.K.
People passionate about architecture, do not miss these hard to miss buildings for their construction innovation.
