The Chicago Hilton and the Blackstone Hotel are two of the best hotels of all times with an enormous history.
Left: Hilton Chicago
Formerly: Chicago Hilton and Towers
Formerly: The Stevens Hotel
When the Stevens Hotel opened in 1927, the newspapers wrote of a new Versailles rising on South Michigan Avenue. The colossal building soared 28 stories and occupied an entire city block. With 3,000 guest rooms, it was the biggest hotel in the world, and with its brick-and-limestone walls, decorated inside with hand-painted frescoes, fine restaurants, exclusive shops, vast ballrooms, bowling alley, hospital, a special private room for pets, an 18 hole golf course with real grass on the roof, a 1,200 seat theatre with "talking motion picture" equipment, a three-story laundry, and 5 sub-basements, the most opulent. The Stevens could produce 120 gallons of ice cream per hour. No one had seen anything quite like it before.
Yet, just a few years later, the Stevens Hotel plunged into a disaster - the hotel went bankrupt, the State of Illinois charged its owners with financial corruption. One of them was crippled by a stroke; another committed suicide. In 1942, the hotel was requisitioned by the U.S. Army, and guest rooms became barracks, the Grand Ballroom a mess hall, and other rooms were turned into offices and training rooms. After the war, Conrad Hilton bought the former Stevens Hotel and named it for himself.
Few, if any, of the thousands who pass through the cavernous Chicago Hilton and Towers, as the Stevens is called today, know the dramatic episode of Chicago history that unfolded there. Completely renovated in the mid-eighties, at a cost of $185 million, the hotel still features the two-story entrance hall with grand staircases on either side that so astounded visitors in the Roaring Twenties. But the original 3,000 rooms have been consolidated to 1,544, so the hotel is no longer the biggest in the world. Still, for all the trouble and even tragedy that attended the its early years, the landmark has endured, vindicating the dream the Stevens family envisioned so many years ago.
Right: Blackstone Hotel Chicago
Opened April 16, 1910, and located at 636 South Michigan Avenue, in the heart of the city's arts and theater district - adjacent to the world class Millennium Park, The Blackstone represents yet another significant development milestone in the renaissance of Chicago's South Loop downtown.
The Blackstone was the temporary home of the rich and famous, the politically connected and kings and princes. It was, and is again, renowned the world over. In the early years of the twentieth century there were few hotels that could compare. Twelve presidents - from Taft to Carter - have stayed at the Blackstone, some at times of national crisis, e.g. John F. Kennedy learned of Cuba's nuclear capabilities while eating a bowl of chowder.
The nearly century-old 22-story Blackstone Chicago hotel, a work of art in itself, is now part of the Marriott Renaissance chain. It is one of the most history-rich hotel properties in the U.S.
Order your "Hilton Chicago and Blackstone Hotel" Print at Fine Art America
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Friday, November 02, 2012
Thursday, November 01, 2012
Art Deco Buckingham Fountain Chicago
Buckingham Fountain, officially known as the 'Clarence Buckingham Memorial Fountain' is one of Chicago's most popular landmarks. It is located in Grant Park at the center of a formally laid out garden. During the dedication in August of 1927, John Philip Sousa conducted while his band played "Pomp and Circumstance" before an audience of 50,000 people.
The fountain rises more than 7 meters high (23ft) and consists of 3 layers of basins surrounded by four pairs of bronze seahorses. Each sea horse symbolizes a state bordering Lake Michigan (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin) while the fountain represents the lake itself.
Chicago's landmark is considered one of America's finest fountains due to its Beaux-Arts-style landscape design, finely wrought bronze sculpture and innovative use of technology.
Order your "Art Deco Buckingham Fountain Chicago" Print at Fine Art America
or Download the royalty-free digital photo 'Art Deco Buckingham Fountain Chicago' directly from: CT-Graphics.com
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The fountain rises more than 7 meters high (23ft) and consists of 3 layers of basins surrounded by four pairs of bronze seahorses. Each sea horse symbolizes a state bordering Lake Michigan (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin) while the fountain represents the lake itself.
Chicago's landmark is considered one of America's finest fountains due to its Beaux-Arts-style landscape design, finely wrought bronze sculpture and innovative use of technology.
Order your "Art Deco Buckingham Fountain Chicago" Print at Fine Art America
or Download the royalty-free digital photo 'Art Deco Buckingham Fountain Chicago' directly from: CT-Graphics.com
Royalty Free Photographs for Print and Web - Image Customization - Old or Damaged or Polaroid Photo Restoration - Conversion of Slides and Paper Pictures to Digital (CD/DVD) - Picture Postcards - Calendars - Greeting Cards
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Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Chicago - What a beautiful city
Right: Aon Center (Amoco Building, Standard Oil Building)
The Aon Center is the quiet, dignified supertall in the Chicago skyline. From a distance, the building feels like another boring grey 1970's stone block. To really appreciate it, you have to walk right up to it and crane your neck to see the top.
Just after the building was completed in 1973, its famed marble facade began to buckle. Stainless steel straps were wrapped around the building to keep any large chunks from falling off. From 1990 to 1992 the building's 43,000 marble cladding panels were replaced by white, two-inch-thick Mt. Airy granite panels at a cost of $80 million - half what it cost to build the tower in the first place. That left the owners with 5,900 tons of unwanted marble.
2nd from right: Two Prudential Plaza
At the time of completion in 1955 "2 Pru" was the world's second tallest reinforced concrete building and the first skyscraper erected in Chicago after WW II.
The distinctive shape features stacked chevron setbacks on the north & south sides, a sharp pyramidal peak rotated 45°, and an 80-foot spire. The building has a terraced one-acre plaza on its west side with fountains and landscaping.
3rd from right: One Prudential Plaza
One Prudential Plaza was the first high-rise office building completed in Chicago since the LaSalle Bank Building in 1934. It was built above and beyond office standards of the day. When the Prudential Building was finished in 1955, it had the highest roof in Chicago, included one of the largest parking facilities built within an office building in the world, and the tower featured the world's fastest elevators.
The Two Prudential Plaza is joined at the lobby level to the much older One Prudential Plaza.
For names and descriptions of its neighbors to the left please visit my image titled 'Chicago The Beautiful'
Order your "Chicago - What a beautiful city" Print at Fine Art America
or Download the royalty-free digital photo 'Chicago - What a beautiful city' directly from: CT-Graphics.com
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The Aon Center is the quiet, dignified supertall in the Chicago skyline. From a distance, the building feels like another boring grey 1970's stone block. To really appreciate it, you have to walk right up to it and crane your neck to see the top.
Just after the building was completed in 1973, its famed marble facade began to buckle. Stainless steel straps were wrapped around the building to keep any large chunks from falling off. From 1990 to 1992 the building's 43,000 marble cladding panels were replaced by white, two-inch-thick Mt. Airy granite panels at a cost of $80 million - half what it cost to build the tower in the first place. That left the owners with 5,900 tons of unwanted marble.
2nd from right: Two Prudential Plaza
At the time of completion in 1955 "2 Pru" was the world's second tallest reinforced concrete building and the first skyscraper erected in Chicago after WW II.
The distinctive shape features stacked chevron setbacks on the north & south sides, a sharp pyramidal peak rotated 45°, and an 80-foot spire. The building has a terraced one-acre plaza on its west side with fountains and landscaping.
3rd from right: One Prudential Plaza
One Prudential Plaza was the first high-rise office building completed in Chicago since the LaSalle Bank Building in 1934. It was built above and beyond office standards of the day. When the Prudential Building was finished in 1955, it had the highest roof in Chicago, included one of the largest parking facilities built within an office building in the world, and the tower featured the world's fastest elevators.
The Two Prudential Plaza is joined at the lobby level to the much older One Prudential Plaza.
For names and descriptions of its neighbors to the left please visit my image titled 'Chicago The Beautiful'
Order your "Chicago - What a beautiful city" Print at Fine Art America
or Download the royalty-free digital photo 'Chicago - What a beautiful city' directly from: CT-Graphics.com
Royalty Free Photographs for Print and Web - Image Customization - Old or Damaged or Polaroid Photo Restoration - Conversion of Slides and Paper Pictures to Digital (CD/DVD) - Picture Postcards - Calendars - Greeting Cards
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Monday, October 29, 2012
Cloud Gate Millenium Park Chicago
"Chicago, the wonder city, has a new wonder." -Chicago Tribune, 18 July, 2004
Cloud Gate - referred to by locals as "The Bean", for obvious reasons - was the first public sculpture of Indian-born and London-based artist Anish Kapoor. He designed a stainless steel construction consisting of 168 stainless steel plates, each 1 cm (0.4 inch) thick and seamlessly welded together. Cloud Gate's seamless surface is the result of thousands of hours of polishing. The structure weighs 100 tons and measures 10 meters high and 20 meters wide (33 x 66 ft). People can walk through the 3.7 meter high central arch, where they can look up to the large 'dent' and see numerous distorted reflections of themselves.
When 'The cloud" was completely finished in May, 2006 its almost magical appeal became visible. Seamless and polished, it reflects and distorts the skyline of Michigan Avenue, the sky, and the people nearby, who always seem to have the urge to touch the sculpture's silvery surface.
What was once a gritty, blighted site in Chicago is now home to a glistening, cultural spectacle that delivers joy to its visitors. Cloud Gate instantly became an icon of Chicago, and an attraction that every visitor to the city wants to see.
Order your "Cloud Gate Millenium Park Chicago" Print at Fine Art America
or Download the royalty-free digital photo 'Cloud Gate Millenium Park Chicago' directly from: CT-Graphics.com
Royalty Free Photographs for Print and Web - Image Customization - Old or Damaged or Polaroid Photo Restoration - Conversion of Slides and Paper Pictures to Digital (CD/DVD) - Picture Postcards - Calendars - Greeting Cards
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Cloud Gate - referred to by locals as "The Bean", for obvious reasons - was the first public sculpture of Indian-born and London-based artist Anish Kapoor. He designed a stainless steel construction consisting of 168 stainless steel plates, each 1 cm (0.4 inch) thick and seamlessly welded together. Cloud Gate's seamless surface is the result of thousands of hours of polishing. The structure weighs 100 tons and measures 10 meters high and 20 meters wide (33 x 66 ft). People can walk through the 3.7 meter high central arch, where they can look up to the large 'dent' and see numerous distorted reflections of themselves.
When 'The cloud" was completely finished in May, 2006 its almost magical appeal became visible. Seamless and polished, it reflects and distorts the skyline of Michigan Avenue, the sky, and the people nearby, who always seem to have the urge to touch the sculpture's silvery surface.
What was once a gritty, blighted site in Chicago is now home to a glistening, cultural spectacle that delivers joy to its visitors. Cloud Gate instantly became an icon of Chicago, and an attraction that every visitor to the city wants to see.
Order your "Cloud Gate Millenium Park Chicago" Print at Fine Art America
or Download the royalty-free digital photo 'Cloud Gate Millenium Park Chicago' directly from: CT-Graphics.com
Royalty Free Photographs for Print and Web - Image Customization - Old or Damaged or Polaroid Photo Restoration - Conversion of Slides and Paper Pictures to Digital (CD/DVD) - Picture Postcards - Calendars - Greeting Cards
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