Rookery Building

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Rookery Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
(U.S. National Historic Landmark)
(Chicago Landmark)
Rookery Building exterior in 1891.
Location:	209 South LaSalle Street Chicago, IL
Coordinates:	41°52′44.67″N 87°37′55.58″W / 41.879075, -87.6321056
Built/Founded:	1886
Architect:	Burnham & Root; Frank Lloyd Wright; William Drummond; et al.
Architectural style(s):	Chicago
Added to NRHP:	April 17, 1970
Designated as NHL:	May 15, 1975
Designated as CL:	July 5, 1972
NRHP Reference#:	70000238 [1]
Governing body:	Private

The Rookery Building is an historic landmark located in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Completed by John Wellborn Root and Daniel Burnham of Burnham and Root in 1888, it is considered one of their masterpiece buildings and once housed the office of the famous architects. It measures 181 feet (55 m), is twelve stories tall and is considered the oldest standing high-rise in Chicago.^[2] It has a unique style with exterior load-bearing walls and an interior steel frame.^[2] The lobby was remodeled in 1907 by Frank Lloyd Wright. Starting in 1989, the lobby was again restored to the original Wright design. The building was designated a Chicago Landmark on July 5, 1972.^[3] The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 17, 1970 and listed as a National Historic Landmark on May 15, 1975.^[4] The name Rookery comes from the previous building on the property which became home to many birds, especially pigeons.

[edit] Construction

[edit] Burnham & Root

An exterior view of the Rookery Building from the northwest (August 1963).

The Rookery was built in 1887-1888 by the architectural partnership of Daniel H. Burnham and John Wellborn Root, known as Burnham and Root. In the architectural boom that followed the Great Chicago Fire, architects in what would become known as the Chicago School of commercial architecture competed with each other to create the world's first true skyscrapers. By mixing modern building techniques such as metal framing, fireproofing, elevators and plate glass, together with traditional ones such as brick facades and elaborate ornamentation, Burnham and Root sought to create a bold architectural statement that would nonetheless survive as a commercially successful office building.^[5] This building is one of the few results of their partnership that remains today.^[6]

As the master artisan, Root drew upon a variety of influences in designing the interior and exterior spaces, including Moorish, Byzantine, Venetian and Romanesque motifs.^[5] He also provided the architectural innovations that brought together many contemporary cutting edge building techniques. Of particular note was a "floating" foundation - a reinforced concrete slab that provided the building's weight with a solid platform atop Chicago's notoriously swampy soil.^[5] The term for the type of foundation that Root designed is grillage foundation, a foundation where iron rails and the structural beams are combined in a crisscross pattern and encased in concrete to support the building's immense weight without heavy foundation stones.^[2] This construction is particularly useful when structural loads are high compared to the natural bearing capacity of the soil.^[7]

The Rookery's light court serves as a focal point for the entire building.

[edit] Light court

Making prodigious use of light and ornamentation, the light court serves as the focal point for the entire building. Rising two stories, the light court received immediate critical acclaim. "There is nothing bolder, more original or more inspiring in modern civic architecture than its glass-covered court", wrote Eastern critic Henry Van Brunt.^[5] At a time when Chicago's bold experiment in architecture was looking eastward for affirmation, this was welcome praise.^[5] The light court provides natural illumination for the interior offices.^[6][8] Wright's work on the Rookery is his only work on any building within the downtown cityscape.^[9]

Young architectural assistant Frank Lloyd Wright was working with Adler and Sullivan at the time the Rookery was built in 1886. Architect Daniel Burnham was a friend of Wright patron Edward C. Waller and Waller managed the Rookery; Wright had his offices in the building in 1898-1899. Thus, it is not surprising that Wright received the commission, in 1905, to redesign the lobby in the building; at the time considered the grandest in Chicago.^[9] Wright's work on the Rookery recast the entryway in his Prairie style and added a sense of modernity through his simple but effective lighting design.^[9]

Among Wright's most significant alterations was the addition of white marble with Persian-style ornamentation. The marble and decorative details added a sense of luxury to the lobby's steel-laden interior, teeming with Burnham and Root's skeletal metal ribbing.^[9] The entire interior space is bright and open. A double set of curving, heavily-ornamented stairs wind upward from the lobby's second floor into the building's interior. A wrap around balcony on the second floor enhances the feeling of being within the interior of a "clockwork."^[9] The Wright remodel opened the building up to more of the available light.^[9]

Contrasted with the original wrought iron surfaces (seen here), Wright's renovations significantly brightened the lobby's appearance

[edit] Other architectural details

The red marble, terra cotta and brick facade of the building is a combination of Roman Revival and Queen Anne styles that embraced Richardsonian Romanesque architecture.^[6][10] The building, which is a combination of iron framing and masonry bearing walls,^[11] marked a transition from masonry load-bearing structures to steel skeleton load-bearing structures.^[3] In fact, the Landmarks Commission citation commends "development of the skeleton structural frame using cast iron columns, wrought iron spandrel beams, and steel beams to support party walls and interior floors".^[8] Aside from the first two floors of metal-framed perimeter walls, the walls are all masonry.^[2] The building is known for its semi-circular staircase west of the light court.^[2]

[edit] Renovations

While much of the Loop's 19th century architecture has been lost to demolition, the Rookery has been spared this fate through a series of well planned and executed renovations. The building remains a commercially successful rental office building, as it was when it was first built.^[5]

Beginning in the early 20th century, the building underwent three major renovations. In the first, from 1905 to 1907, Frank Lloyd Wright was retained to remake the interior spaces. In keeping with contemporary tastes, Wright's design covered Root's elaborate wrought iron finishes with white carved Carrara marble surfaces. Nearing the peak of his fame, Wright's changes brought enhanced status to the building, making the Rookery one of the most sought after buildings in all of Chicago.^[5] Some of Wright's other changes included incorporating simplified ironwork and adding planters as well as light fixtures.^[2]

LaSalle Street and Rookery Building from W. Jackson Blvd. (1911)

The second renovation, completed August 24, 1931 by former Wright assistant William Drummond, modernized many of the interior elements, including new elevators, and brought period touches to the building, such as Art Deco detailing.^[9] The third renovation, in 1992, brought the building back much of its original splendor, reopening the light court ceiling after it had been covered over to protect against leaks.^[5]

After their purchase of the Rookery in October 2007 the new owners announced plans for an extensive renovation of the building's common areas.^[12]

[edit] Tenants

Burnham & Root had their offices at the Rookery for a while upon its completion. At one time Wright had an office in the building.^[2] Current tenants include US Bank, Brooks Brothers, Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates and BNP Paribas, among others.^[12]

[edit] Current ownership

The building was purchased in October 2007 for $73 million by an investment group controlled by a European family, and advised by Zeb Bradford of Metzler North America Corp. The seller was Broadway Real Estate Partners of New York, which had bought the Rookery for $56 million in April 2006. BREP was reported to have increased occupancy of the building's 281,000 sq ft (26,100 m²) from 80% in January 2007 to 96% at the time of the sale.^[12]

[edit] Cultural references

The name Rookery is an allusion to the old city hall building that occupied the land before the Rookery was built.^[2] The building was called the Rookery not only in reference to the crows and pigeons that inhabited its exterior walls, but also because of the shady politicians it housed.^[5][2] After the Great Chicago Fire a dilapidated building was used as an interim City Hall at this location (LaSalle and Adams). However, pigeons became such a nuisance that a complaining citizen began referring to the building as "a rookery", a term the press quickly adopted. Although several names were considered when a new structure on the site was proposed, "the Rookery" won out.^[8]

The Rookery Building was featured in the movie Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, where one of the lower levels was modeled as a toy store, Duncan's Toy Chest.^[13]

The Rookery was also home to fictional financial speculator Curtis Jadwin in The Pit by Frank Norris.^[2]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Rookery Building - City of Chicago Dep't. of Planning and Development page on the building
• The Rookery - Emporis Buildings
• Chicago: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary

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