Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Chicago Cultural Center
4 Beaux Arts (1890-1920)
This style takes its name from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where a number
of prominent American architects (including H. H. Richardson [see section 1,
“Richardsonian Romanesque (1870-1900)”] and Louis Sullivan) received their
training, beginning around the mid-19th century. These architects adopted the
academic principles of the Ecole, which emphasized the study of Greek and
Roman structures, composition, and symmetry, and the creation of elaborate
presentation drawings. Because of the idealized origins and grandiose use of clas-
sical forms, the beaux arts in America was seen as the ideal style for expressing
civic pride.
In 1893, Chicago hosted the
World's Columbian Exposition,
attended by
21 million people at a time when Chicago's population was just over 1 million.
Overseen by Chicagoan
Daniel H. Burnham
(1846-1912), the fairgrounds in
Hyde Park were laid out in beaux-arts style with broad boulevards, fountains,
and temporary ornate, white buildings, mostly by New York-based architects.
(One of the few permanent structures is now the Museum of Science and Indus-
try, p. 192.) The style created somewhat of a classical revival in Chicago and
led to Burnham's spearheading of a movement to beautify America's urban areas.
(In 1909, he created a plan for Chicago that forever ensured lakefront access by
the public.)
Grandiose compositions, an exuberance of detail, and a variety of stone fin-
ishes typify most beaux-arts structures. Particular features include:
• A pronounced cornice topped by a
parapet
(a low wall), balustrade, or attic
story
• Projecting pavilions, often with colossal columns grouped in pairs
• Windows framed by freestanding columns, a sill with a balustrade, and
pediments or decorative
keystones
(the central stone of an arch)
• Grand staircases
• Grand arched openings
• Classical decoration: freestanding statuary, ornamental panels, swags, and
medallions
Chicago has several beaux-arts buildings, exhibiting the style's main features.
The oldest part of the
Art Institute of Chicago,
Michigan Avenue at Adams
Street (Shepley, Rutan & Collidge, 1893), was built for the World's Columbian
Exposition. The
Santa Fe Center,
80 E. Jackson Blvd. (D.H. Burnham & Co.,
1904), across the street from the museum, is an example of a Chicago school
skyscraper with beaux-arts ornamentation (the lobby also has a very grand stair-
case). A later example of yet another skyscraper is the gleaming white
Wrigley
Building,
400-410 N. Michigan Ave. (Graham, Anderson, Probst & White,
1919-24), which serves as a gateway to North Michigan Avenue.
