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Auditorium Building

Coordinates:41°52′34″N87°37′31″W/ 41.87611°N 87.62528°W/41.87611; -87.62528
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Auditorium Building
Building's exterior in 2012
Auditorium Building is located in Central Chicago
Auditorium Building
Auditorium Building is located in Illinois
Auditorium Building
Auditorium Building is located in the United States
Auditorium Building
Location430 S. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, Illinois
Coordinates41°52′34″N87°37′31″W/ 41.87611°N 87.62528°W/41.87611; -87.62528
Area67,699.5 square feet (6,289.49 m2)
Built1889
ArchitectLouis Sullivan
Dankmar Adler
Architectural styleLate-19th- and early-20th-century American movements
Part ofHistoric Michigan Boulevard District
NRHP referenceNo.70000230[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPApril 17, 1970[2]
Designated NHLMay 15, 1975[3]
Designated CLSeptember 15, 1976
Historical markers

TheAuditorium Buildingin Chicago is one of the best-known designs ofLouis SullivanandDankmar Adler.Completed in 1889, the building is located at the northwest corner of SouthMichigan AvenueandIda B. Wells Drive.The building was designed to be a multi-use complex, including offices, a theater, and a hotel. As a young apprentice,Frank Lloyd Wrightworked on some of the interior design.

TheAuditorium Theatreis part of the Auditorium Building and is located at 50 EastIda B. WellsDrive. The theater was the first home of theChicago Civic Operaand theChicago Symphony Orchestra.

The building was added to theNational Register of Historic Placeson April 17, 1970.[2]It was declared aNational Historic Landmarkin 1975,[3]and was designated aChicago Landmarkon September 15, 1976.[4]In addition, it is a historic district contributing property for the Chicago LandmarkHistoric Michigan Boulevard District.Since 1947, the Auditorium Building has been part ofRoosevelt University.

Origin and purpose

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Ferdinand Peck,a Chicago businessman, incorporated the Chicago Auditorium Association in December 1886 to develop what he wanted to be the world's largest, grandest, most expensivetheaterthat would rival such institutions as theMetropolitan Opera Housein New York City. He was said to have wanted to make high culture accessible to the working classes of Chicago.

The building was to include an office block and a first class hotel. Peck persuaded many Chicago business tycoons to go on board with him, includingMarshall Field,Edson Keith,Martin A. Ryerson,Charles L. HutchinsonandGeorge Pullman.The association hired therenowned architectural firmofDankmar AdlerandLouis Sullivanto design the building. At the time, a youngFrank Lloyd Wrightwas employed at the firm as draftsman, and he may have contributed to the design.[5]

The Auditorium was built for asyndicateof businessmen to house a large civic opera house; to provide an economic base it was decided to wrap the auditorium with a hotel and office block. Hence Adler & Sullivan had to plan a complex multiple-use building. Fronting onMichigan Avenue,overlooking the lake, was the hotel (now Roosevelt University) while the offices were placed to the west on Wabash Avenue. The entrance to the auditorium is on the south side beneath the tall blocky eighteen-story tower. The rest of the building is a uniform ten stories, organized in the same way as Richardson'sMarshall FieldWholesale Store. The interior embellishment, however, is wholly Sullivan's, and some of the details, because of their continuouscurvilinearfoliatemotifs,are among the nearest equivalents to EuropeanArt Nouveauarchitecture.[6]

Design

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Sullivan and Adler designed a tall structure with load-bearing outer walls, and based the exterior appearance partly on the design ofH.H. Richardson'sMarshall Field Warehouse,another Chicago landmark.[7]The Auditorium is a heavy, impressive structure externally, and was more striking in its day when buildings of its scale were less common. When completed, it was the tallest building in the city and largest building in the United States.[8]

One of the most innovative features of the building was its massive raftfoundation,designed by Adler in conjunction with engineer Paul Mueller. The soil beneath the Auditorium consists of soft blueclayto a depth of over 100 feet, which made conventional foundations impossible. Adler and Mueller designed a floating mat of crisscrossedrailroad ties,topped with a double layer of steel rails embedded in concrete, the whole assemblage coated withpitch.

The resulting raft distributed the weight of the massive outer walls over a large area. However, the weight of the masonry outer walls in relation to the relatively lightweight interior deformed the raft during the course of a century, and today portions of the building have settled as much as 29 inches. This deflection is clearly visible in the theater lobby, where themosaicfloor takes on a distinct slope as it nears the outer walls. This settlement is not because of poor engineering but the fact the design was changed during construction. The original plan had the exterior covered in lightweight terra-cotta, but this was changed to stone after the foundations were under construction. Most of the settlement occurred within a decade after construction, and at one time a plan existed to shorten the interior supports to level the floors but this was never carried out.

In the center of the building was a 4,300 seatauditorium,originally intended primarily for production ofGrand Opera.In keeping with Peck's democratic ideals, the auditorium was designed so that all seats would have good views and acoustics. The original plans had nobox seatsand when these were added to the plans they did not receive prime locations.

Housed in the building around the central space were an 1890 addition of 136 offices and a 400-room hotel,[8][9]whose purpose was to generate much of the revenue to support the opera. While the Auditorium Building was not intended as a commercial building, Peck wanted it to be self-sufficient. Revenue from the offices and hotel was meant to allow ticket prices to remain reasonable. In reality, both the hotel and office block became unprofitable within a few years.

  • interior cross-section
    interior cross-section
  • foundation
    foundation
  • basement
    basement

Later uses

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On October 5, 1887, PresidentGrover Clevelandlaid thecornerstonefor the Auditorium Building. The1888 Republican National Conventionwas held in a partially finished building whereBenjamin Harrisonwas nominated as a presidential candidate. On December 9, 1889, President Benjamin Harrison dedicated the building and opera starAdelina Pattisang "Home Sweet Home" to thunderous applause.[citation needed]Adler & Sullivan had also opened their offices on the 16th and 17th floors of the Auditorium tower.

Roosevelt University's Murray-Green Library on the 10th floor of the Auditorium Building

TheChicago Symphony Orchestradebuted on October 16, 1891, and made its home in the Auditorium Theatre until moving toOrchestra Hallin 1904.[8]

The opera company renting the accommodation moved to theCivic Opera Housein 1929, and the Auditorium Theatre closed during theGreat Depression.In 1941, it was taken over by the city of Chicago to be used as aWorld War IIservicemen's center. By 1946,Roosevelt Universitymoved into the Auditorium Building,[8]but the theater was not restored to its former splendor.

In 1952, Congress Parkway was widened, bringing the curb to the southern edge of the building. To make room for a sidewalk, some ground-floor rooms and part of the theater lobby were removed and a sidewalk arcade created.[10]

Crowd outside the Auditorium Theatre during Obama'sGrant Park rally on the night of the 2008 election

On October 31, 1967, the Auditorium Theatre reopened and through 1975, the Auditorium served as arock venue.Among other notable acts, theGrateful Deadplayed there ten times from 1971 through 1977.

The Doors also played their first concert at the Auditorium Building after their arrest of singerJim Morrisonon June 14, 1969.

It was declared aNational Historic Landmarkby theU.S. Department of the Interiorin 1975.

The building was equipped with the firstcentral air conditioningsystem and the theater was the first to be entirely lit byincandescentlight bulbs.[8]In 2001, a major restoration of the Auditorium Theatre was begun by Daniel P. Coffey and Associates in conjunction withEverGreene Architectural Artsto return the theater to its original colors and finishes.

On April 30, 2015, theNational Football Leagueheld its2015 NFL Draftin the Auditorium Theatre, the first time the league had held its annual draft in Chicago in more than 50 years.

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  • Exterior detail, seen from Congress Parkway
    Exterior detail, seen from Congress Parkway
  • Auditorium Theatre interior from the balcony
    Auditorium Theatre interior from the balcony
  • Interior detail of the Auditorium Theatre
    Interior detail of the Auditorium Theatre
  • Auditorium Hotel – dining hall from the South
    Auditorium Hotel – dining hall from the South
  • Auditorium Hotel – detail of the grand stairs
    Auditorium Hotel – detail of the grand stairs
  • Postcard of building circa 1906, with handwritten note: "This is where I work!"
    Postcard of building circa 1906, with handwritten note: "This is where I work!"

References

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Notes

  1. ^"National Register Information System".National Register of Historic Places.National Park Service.July 9, 2010.
  2. ^abPitts, Carolyn (March 10, 1975)."National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Auditorium Building".National Park Service.RetrievedDecember 8,2011.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal=(help)
  3. ^ab"Auditorium Building".National Historic Landmark summary listing.National Park Service. May 15, 1975. Archived fromthe originalon October 9, 2012.RetrievedDecember 8,2011.
  4. ^"Auditorium Building".Commission on Chicago Landmarks.Chicago Department of Housing and Economic Development, Historic Preservation Division.RetrievedDecember 8,2011.
  5. ^"Some interior details were probably drawn byFrank Lloyd Wright,who started in Sullivan's office as a draftsman in 1887. " Banister Fletcher.A History of Architecture.p. 1241.
  6. ^Roth, Leland M.A Concise History of American Architecture.p. 179-80
  7. ^Sarkowski, John (1956).The Idea of Louis Sullivan.Bulfinch Press. p. 22.ISBN0-8212-2667-3.
  8. ^abcdeHenning, Joel (September 6, 2008)."Form Follows Function, Elegantly: Louis Sullivan designed the Auditorium Theatre's interior to complement its acoustics-driven shape".The Wall Street Journal.Dow Jones & Company.Archivedfrom the original on September 11, 2008.RetrievedSeptember 7,2008.
  9. ^Carey, Heidi Pawlowski (2005)."Auditorium Building".The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago.Chicago Historical Society.RetrievedSeptember 7,2008.
  10. ^"Auditorium Building".Emporis.Archived fromthe originalon May 12, 2015.

Further reading

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