Dearborn Street

Dearborn Street. Chicago Cultural Walk. [Side A] , Dearborn Street showcases some of Chicago’s best architecture, art, and urban design dating from the late 19th century. Great names in architecture include Chicago School architects William LeBaron Jenney, Burnham and Root, and Holabird and Roche, as well as highly regarded modern architects, Mies van der Rohe, Skidmore Owings and Merrill C.F. Murphy, and Perkins and Will. Sculptures by world famous artists line the street, including those by Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, Henry Moore, Marc Chagall, and Alexander Calder. These works of art are set in urban plazas which punctuate long blocks of skyscrapers and become outdoor rooms for performances, sidewalk fairs, farmer’s markets, civic celebrations, and political events., An impressive collection of 1890s skyscrapers with structural and design innovations known as the Chicago School of Architecture is located at the south end of Dearborn Street on either side of the century-old elevated train structure. They are part of Printer’s Row, once the center of the city’s vibrant printing industry. Chicago’s dominance in the world of architecture throughout the 1960s is also represented on the street. The Federal Center by International Style founder, Mies van der Rohe, the Richard J. Daley Center, and the Brunswick Building all made use of the latest technology in the modern idiom that set design standards., Governor John Peter Altgeld, who pardoned the labor agitators of the Haymarket riot in 1896 and ruined his political career as a result, had offices on Dearborn Street. The site has recently been the home of Gallery 37, Chicago’s summer art training program for youth, and the wintertime Skate on State. Across the street, the Richard J. Daley Center Plaza has hosted such diverse activities as United States presidential candidate rallies and celebrations for Chicago sports teams. Noon-time concerts entertain office workers next to Chicago’s Picasso and beside Chagall’s Four Seasons mosaic at the Bank One Plaza., Dearborn Street has recreated itself many times and it has may stories to tell. Its banking, business, and government affairs continue to flourish amid some of the world’s greatest art and architecture, enlivened by a year-round calendar of cultural and civic events., [Side B] , Monadnock Building , 53 W. Jackson Boulevard , North half built 1889-1991. Burnham and Root, architects. , South half built 1891-1893. Holabird and Roche, architects , National Register of Historic Places and Chicago Landmark , , The north half of the Monadnock Building is known for being the tallest structure in the world , higher than Europe's great cathedrals , in which thick masonry walls bear the load of the building. With no applied ornament, the building's sculptural form gently slopes at the cornice and the base, where its walls are six feet thick and its windows have deep reveals. The south half of the building, begun after Root's death, was built of steel frame construction which is reflected in its thinner walls. While this half pioneers a newer building tradition, it makes use of classically inspired ornamentation in its arched windows and eave brackets. , , Fisher Building , 343 S. Dearborn , Built 1896. D.H. Burnham and Co. , North addition built, 1907. Peter Weber, architect , National Register of Historic Places and Chicago Landmark , , The Fisher Building is covered with terra cotta fish, beasts and all manner of aquatic creatures, a playful reference to the name of the original building owner, Lucius G. Fisher. Principal architect for the structure at D.H. Burnham and Company was Charles Atwood, who also designed the landmark Reliance Building on State Street. Both buildings appear light and transparent, with gothic detailing outlining rows of tall windows set almost flush with the wall surface. In the Fisher Building the gothic becomes more elaborate, emphasizing the theory that the only precedent for the soaring height of these new skyscrapers was the Gothic cathedral. , ,