THE CHICAGO SCHOOL

Submitted By :-

SANJOLI MANGAL {29}

ADITI JAIN {31}
SHIWANGI SAHA {34}
Architecture: The First Chicago School
It is no mere accident that in the 1880s Chicago produced a group of architects, now known
as the “First Chicago School,” whose work would have a profound effect upon architecture.

Within a decade after the fire of 1871, Chicago was a boomtown. By 1890 it had a population
of more than a million people and had surpassed Philadelphia to become the second-largest
metropolis in the United States. The value of land in the Loop soared. Quickly, the low
buildings constructed just after the fire were seen as an inefficient use of valuable space.

Chicago was ready to experiment with daring solutions. The city that had stood at the center
of innovations like the Pullman sleeping car, the McCormick reaper, and mail-order retailing
would now be the place where the tall office building would be perfected. One of the keys to
this development was the invention of the elevator. Chicago had a special problem, however:
it stood upon a swamp.
Chicago School (Modernism Phase I | Pragmatic
Functionalism)
 

Chicago, has been called the “birthplace of modern architecture.”

• Flourished between 1880's & 90's
• Chicago became the centre of architectural progress in USA from 1880s onwards
• Closely associated with tall multistoried office buildings
• In early 19th century rapidly growing cities of America had intense pressure on land due to
urbanization, buildings mass went vertical to accommodate the demand.
Architects & Their Works

H.H. Richardson - Marshall Field Store (1885-'87)

Burnham and Root - Monadnock Building (1889-'91)

Daniel Burnham and Company - Reliance Building, (1894-95)

Holabird and Roche - Marquette Building (1893-'94); 325, West Jackson Boulevard Building
(1904)

Adler and Sullivan - Auditorium Building (1887-'89); Walker Warehouse (1888-'89); Carson-Pirie-
Scott Store (1899-1904)

Henry Louis Sullivan-Guaranty (Prudential Building (1895)

HERNRY HOBSON RICHARDSON
 
• "Last Great Traditional Architect"-founded the path of American modernism. He was the
precursor of Chicago School of Thought
 
Rhythm, monumentality, Stone skeleton Horizontal division> adaptation of classism Horizontal
lines of Chicago school
 

Marshall Field Store, Chicago (1885-87, demolished 1930)

WILLIUM HOLABIRD & MIRTIN
ROCHE 

Breaking into three horizontal parts to reduce the

verticality of the building
 
Influence of Classical Greek Architecture:
 
Base (ground & 1st floor): Retail shops to
accommodate > Public space> most accessible
Shaft / columns: Main office floors (semi-public)
Capital: at top overhanging cornice for maintenance
 
Material: terracotta cladding; Steel Frame-structure
(which allowed larger shop-windows at the ground &
1st floor and provided a horizontal band of glass
façade- base)

Chicago Window . Chicago Savings Bank Building,

Chicago (1904-05)
Chicago Window
 
• Typical style of Chicago School of thought
 
• Fixed Central Panel
 
• Smaller Double-hung sash window on the both
side of
 
• the fixed central panel
 
• Some times converted into bay window
  George Herbert Wyman
 
Skylight
 
Courtyard
 
Hydraulic-lift
 
Open Iron Staircase
 

> Layout of a
contemporary office
building

Bradbury Building, Los Angeles, California (1889-'93)

 George Herbert Wyman
 

Skylight
 
Courtyard
 
Hydraulic-lift
 
Open Iron Staircase
 

Bradbury Building, Los Angeles, California (1889-'93)

THE RELIANCE BUILDING, CHICAGO,DANIEL BURNHAM
• In a time when thick coal smoke blanketed the city and skyscrapers were often maligned for
casting long shadows on the streets, the architects of the Reliance Building sought to create
a building that could be "self-cleaning."
• The glazed terra cotta cladding provided what was thought to be the perfect solution.
• It was believed to never need cleaning because its smooth surface would allow any dirt to
wash away in the rain.
• Though that belief ultimately turned out to be unfounded, it inspired the Reliance Building’s
most distinct feature, its shining facade of glass and white terra cotta.
THE RELIANCE BUILDING, CHICAGO

Open floor plan

 Louis Henry Sullivan - Father of modernism
 
● Eugène Viollet-le-Duc (French Architect)- "Architecture must be true according to the
programme (functional need) and true according to the methods of construction (quality &
properties of Material)“

●  "Form Follows Function"

● Architecture must solid, useful, beautiful

● Steel frame-structure, High-rise

● May not be ornamental in terms of Form like Art Nouveau, but intricate detailing in terracotta
cladding and cast-iron ornamentations are visible.

● Broken the solidity of surface with Art Nouveau style ornamentation

in places.

Guaranty Building, Chicago (1895)
 Also called Prudential building
. Carson Pirie Scott Department
Store,Chicago (1899-1994)
Chicago school with Art
Nouveau style ornamentation
SOURCES

• The Chicago School of ArchitectureBook by Carl W. Condit

• http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/62.html
• https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/The_Chicago_School_of_Architectur
e/5S6_919wx6wC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover
• https://www.architecture.org/learn/resources/buildings-of-chicago/building/
reliance-building/
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chicago-School-architecture
• https://youtu.be/mQJoBAEFS5I
THANK YOU