Located in the heart of the city, on the north bank of the Chicago River, is the world's largest wholesale design centers and one of Chicago's premier international business locations - the Chicago Merchandise Mart, also called the Mart. When completed in 1931 Merchandise Mart held the title of the world's largest building but was dethroned in 1941 by the Pentagon in Washington, DC. However, even by today's standards Merchandise Mart is an immense office building. With 13.6 km (over 5 miles) of corridors it is still one of the largest commercial buildings in the world.
Construction started in 1923 in art deco / art moderne style for Marshall Field & Company (today e.g. Macy's) as a wholesale warehouse & store. Built OVER the NorthWestern railroad train tracks the Mart is among Chicago's first air rights developments. It is framed in steel and sheathed in a buff-colored Bedford (Indiana) limestone. It has a series of horizontal cornice lines, a central shaft and tower, corner bays capped with turrets, and green and gold accents. The central tower rises 7 stories above the 18-story mass. It is really a modified Art Deco style that was typical of the period. I always think of Carl Sandburg's description of Chicago as the "city of Big Shoulders" when I see the Merchandise Mart. The structure has a trapezoidal shape with a diagonal side on Orleans Street. Within the block it is honeycombed by several light courts. The lobby is decorated with 17 murals by Jules Guerin illustrating commerce around the world.
The building is one of the main investments that comes up when people talk about Joseph P. Kennedy's financial prowess - he purchased the building in 1945 for $12.5 million, and it was sold by the Kennedy family in 1998 for over $550 million in cash and shares of stock.
Home to 15 major trade and consumer shows as well as hundreds of meetings and special events, Merchandise Mart encompasses 4.2 million gross square feet, spans two city blocks and rises 25 stories, features retail shops, boutiques, radio and television studios, 10 floors of office space, and 11 floors of permanent showrooms. It is visited by 38,500 people each business day; in total, nearly 10 million people visit the Mart each year. One of the Mart's most notable customers was the Sultan of Brunei, who dropped $1.6 million here to furnish his entire palace. He claimed that this was the only place in the world where the task could be completed in one week.
The upper floors 4 - 12 are for "the trade" only, but the bottom two floors are open to the public. On a cold Chicago day I can't imagine a better place to get stuck. Try not to gasp when you find a sofa with a $22,000 price tag.
Order your "Chicago Merchandise Mart" Print at Fine Art America
or directly from: CT-Graphics.com
Fine Art quality Photo canvas prints, framed prints, acrylic prints, metal prints, posters and greeting cards - Image Customization - Old or Damaged or Polaroid Photo Restoration - Conversion of Slides and Paper Pictures to Digital (CD/DVD)
Photography lovers who liked this also liked:
merchandise art
merchandise canvas prints
merchandise framed prints
merchandise acrylic prints
merchandise metal prints
merchandise prints
merchandise posters
merchandise greeting cards
merchandise photos
mart art
mart canvas prints
mart framed prints
mart acrylic prints
mart metal prints
mart prints
mart posters
mart greeting cards
mart photos
wholesale art
wholesale canvas prints
wholesale framed prints
wholesale acrylic prints
wholesale prints
wholesale posters
wholesale greeting cards
wholesale photos
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Classic Chicago - The Jewelers Building
Wrapped in a history involving gold, diamonds and gangsters, 35 E. Wacker - known as the Jewelers Building - is a Chicago skyscraper with a rich past. It once was the tallest building outside New York City.
Jewelers' Building was constructed from 1924-1926. Its 40 stories rise 523 feet above the ground, crowned with a gorgeous dome. Although it was built during a time when Art Deco reigned, it is a very classically influenced building. A well known design feature was the 22 floor car lift that allowed jewelers to enter the building and ride up to their office without exiting the car.
Today the Jewelers Building is also known as the Pure Oil Building, the North American Life Building, or as 35 East Wacker drive, and is headquarters of the famous Murphy/Jahn Architects. Helmut Jahn's showroom occupies the dome at the building's summit. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (as part of the Michigan-Wacker Historic District) and is a Chicago Landmark.
The structure is featured in movie scenes from 2005's "Batman Begins", with Batman perched on one of the turrets rising at the corner of the dome's base, and in film scenes from "Terminators: Dark of the Moon," this is where the bad robots lived.
Order your "Classic Chicago - The Jewelers Building" Print at Fine Art America
or directly from: CT-Graphics.com
Fine Art quality Photo canvas prints, framed prints, acrylic prints, metal prints, posters and greeting cards - Image Customization - Old or Damaged or Polaroid Photo Restoration - Conversion of Slides and Paper Pictures to Digital (CD/DVD)
Art lovers who liked this also liked:
360 art
360 canvas prints
360 framed prints
360 acrylic prints
360 metal prints
360 prints
360 posters
360 greeting cards
360 photos
art moderne art
art moderne canvas prints
art moderne framed prints
art moderne acrylic prints
art moderne metal prints
art moderne prints
art moderne posters
art moderne greeting cards
art moderne photos
willis art
willis canvas prints
willis framed prints
willis acrylic prints
willis prints
willis posters
willis greeting cards
willis photos
Jewelers' Building was constructed from 1924-1926. Its 40 stories rise 523 feet above the ground, crowned with a gorgeous dome. Although it was built during a time when Art Deco reigned, it is a very classically influenced building. A well known design feature was the 22 floor car lift that allowed jewelers to enter the building and ride up to their office without exiting the car.
Today the Jewelers Building is also known as the Pure Oil Building, the North American Life Building, or as 35 East Wacker drive, and is headquarters of the famous Murphy/Jahn Architects. Helmut Jahn's showroom occupies the dome at the building's summit. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (as part of the Michigan-Wacker Historic District) and is a Chicago Landmark.
The structure is featured in movie scenes from 2005's "Batman Begins", with Batman perched on one of the turrets rising at the corner of the dome's base, and in film scenes from "Terminators: Dark of the Moon," this is where the bad robots lived.
Order your "Classic Chicago - The Jewelers Building" Print at Fine Art America
or directly from: CT-Graphics.com
Fine Art quality Photo canvas prints, framed prints, acrylic prints, metal prints, posters and greeting cards - Image Customization - Old or Damaged or Polaroid Photo Restoration - Conversion of Slides and Paper Pictures to Digital (CD/DVD)
Art lovers who liked this also liked:
360 art
360 canvas prints
360 framed prints
360 acrylic prints
360 metal prints
360 prints
360 posters
360 greeting cards
360 photos
art moderne art
art moderne canvas prints
art moderne framed prints
art moderne acrylic prints
art moderne metal prints
art moderne prints
art moderne posters
art moderne greeting cards
art moderne photos
willis art
willis canvas prints
willis framed prints
willis acrylic prints
willis prints
willis posters
willis greeting cards
willis photos
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Old Water Tower Chicago
In the middle of Chicago, Il, a city known for its towers of glass and steel stands a tower made of stone that looks out of place. The Old Water Tower looks like an oversized set decoration from some Elizabethan play. But this isn't knights slaying dragons, this is the city slaking its thirst. Constructed in 1869 on the banks of Lake Michigan, using big limestone blocks, the Chicago Water Tower, with all its small neo-gothic towers resembles more a tiny European medieval castle than a water tower. The tower reaches a height of 154 ft or 47 meter and once towered over all the neighboring buildings. Today it is dwarfed by the many skyscrapers surrounding the tower.
The Water Tower and nearby pumping station were the only two buildings in downtown Chicago that survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1781 which razed the whole city to the ground. Since its survival of the Great Fire, the Water Tower became one of the city's most famous icons as it symbolized Chicago's resilience. It was threatened with demolition several times - in 1906, 1918 and 1948 - but it was saved each time thanks to a public outcry. The tower was eventually restored in 1962.
In May of 1969, during the year of its centennial anniversary, the Chicago Water Tower was selected by the American Water Works Association to be the first American Water Landmark. Today the tower is one of the most important historic attractions in Chicago. Of course the building is no longer used as a functioning water tower, but the area where it stands has become known as the Water Tower District, and one of Chicago’s many skyscrapers is named after it. Many people don't realise that one can go inside the Old Water Tower. It houses the City Gallery which showcases works from local photographers.
Order your "Old Water Tower Chicago" Print at Fine Art America
or directly from: CT-Graphics.com
Fine Art quality Photo canvas prints, framed prints, acrylic prints, metal prints, posters and greeting cards - Image Customization - Old or Damaged or Polaroid Photo Restoration - Conversion of Slides and Paper Pictures to Digital (CD/DVD)
Photography lovers who liked this also liked:
water towers art
water towers canvas prints
water towers framed prints
water towers acrylic prints
water towers metal prints
water towers prints
water towers posters
water towers greeting cards
water towers photos
water tower art
water tower canvas prints
water tower framed prints
water tower acrylic prints
water tower metal prints
water tower prints
water tower posters
water tower greeting cards
water tower photos
fine art pics art
fine art pics canvas prints
fine art pics framed prints
fine art pics acrylic prints
fine art pics prints
fine art pics posters
fine art pics greeting cards
fine art pics photos
The Water Tower and nearby pumping station were the only two buildings in downtown Chicago that survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1781 which razed the whole city to the ground. Since its survival of the Great Fire, the Water Tower became one of the city's most famous icons as it symbolized Chicago's resilience. It was threatened with demolition several times - in 1906, 1918 and 1948 - but it was saved each time thanks to a public outcry. The tower was eventually restored in 1962.
In May of 1969, during the year of its centennial anniversary, the Chicago Water Tower was selected by the American Water Works Association to be the first American Water Landmark. Today the tower is one of the most important historic attractions in Chicago. Of course the building is no longer used as a functioning water tower, but the area where it stands has become known as the Water Tower District, and one of Chicago’s many skyscrapers is named after it. Many people don't realise that one can go inside the Old Water Tower. It houses the City Gallery which showcases works from local photographers.
Order your "Old Water Tower Chicago" Print at Fine Art America
or directly from: CT-Graphics.com
Fine Art quality Photo canvas prints, framed prints, acrylic prints, metal prints, posters and greeting cards - Image Customization - Old or Damaged or Polaroid Photo Restoration - Conversion of Slides and Paper Pictures to Digital (CD/DVD)
Photography lovers who liked this also liked:
water towers art
water towers canvas prints
water towers framed prints
water towers acrylic prints
water towers metal prints
water towers prints
water towers posters
water towers greeting cards
water towers photos
water tower art
water tower canvas prints
water tower framed prints
water tower acrylic prints
water tower metal prints
water tower prints
water tower posters
water tower greeting cards
water tower photos
fine art pics art
fine art pics canvas prints
fine art pics framed prints
fine art pics acrylic prints
fine art pics prints
fine art pics posters
fine art pics greeting cards
fine art pics photos
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
