Page 48 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Chicago

46  CHIC A GO AREA B Y AREA

north entrance and at the south
elevator banks, you can see,
under glass, part of the original
marble floor. A corridor
bordered by shops and
restaurants runs the length of
the building, much like an
interior street.

6 Auditorium
Building
430 S Michigan Ave. Map 4 D3.
Tel (312) 341-3500. q Library.
@ 3, 145, 147, 151. Open 7:30am– Roosevelt University admissions office in
10:30pm Mon– Thu; 7:30am–6pm Fri; the Auditorium Building
10:30am–5pm Sat, Sun. Closed major
public hols. 7 8 Building: (312) (World War II servicemen
341-3555; Theater: (312) 922-2110. used the stage as a bowling
The Monadnock Building’s filigree See Entertainment: p164. alley), it was restored in
wrought-iron staircase the 1960s and is now a venue
5 Monadnock Designed by Dankmar Adler for performing arts events.
Four elliptical arches span
and Louis Sullivan, their first
Building major commission together, the the width of the theater,
Auditorium Building (1889), which is ornamented with
53 W Jackson Blvd. Map 3 C2.
Tel (312) 922-1890. q Jackson (Blue with its walls of smooth stenciling, stained glass,
Line). Open 7am–6pm Mon–Fri. limestone typical of the and gold-leaf plaster reliefs.
Closed public hols. 7 Richardsonian Romanesque Its excellent acoustics enable
∑ monadnockbuilding.com style (see p28) rising above guests in the last row
the rough granite to hear an unam-
Constructed in two parts two base, broke plified whisper
years apart (and by two many records on stage, six
different architectural firms), and achieved stories below.
the interestingly bisected a number The grand
Monadnock Building looks both of firsts. lobby, with
to the past and to the future. Combining its onyx
The northern half of this office a 400-room Stained-glass detailing in the walls and
building, designed by Burnham hotel, a Auditorium Building ornate
and Root, was built first, in 1891. 17-story office staircase,
Sixteen stories tall and with tower, and a 4,300-seat theater, contains an exhibition on the
masonry load-bearing walls (the it was the tallest building in building’s history. The tenth-
building method at the time), it Chicago and the first building floor library, originally the
is the tallest commercial masonry of its size to be electrically hotel’s dining room, has a
building ever constructed. The lighted and air-conditioned. dramatic barrel-vaulted ceiling
southern section, designed by Not surprisingly, it was also and superb lake views.
Holabird and Roche, has a steel the most expensive, costing The building also houses
skeleton sheathed in terra-cotta, over $3 million to build. Roosevelt University.
an innovation that in the At 110,000 tons,
1890s allowed skyscrapers to it was the
soar. Upon completion, it was heaviest building
the largest office building in in the world,
the world. and the
The building is named after most fireproof.
one of New Hampshire’s White The building’s
Mountains. “Monadnock” is crowning jewel
also a geological term for a is the lavish
mountain surrounded by a Auditorium
glacial plain – an appropriate Theatre, the
name, as its walls are 6 ft (2 m) first home of
thick at the base. The interior the Chicago
was restored in the 1980s: the Symphony
mosaic floor is a replica; the Orchestra. After
white-marble ceiling and ornate many years Facade of the Auditorium Building, with cows from a past
staircase are original. At the of neglect public-art project in the foreground

046-047_EW_Chicago.indd 46 13/07/16 2:59 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.6)
Date 12th July 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm