Map America Chicago

The destruction produced by the Great Fire of 1871 created a building opportunity unmatched in all of human history. Architects with marvelous talent flocked into the City to guide the area's renewal. Through their efforts, Chicago literally became the birthplace of the modern world. Windbracing, fireproofing and steel frame assembly techniques permitted development of the most famed Chicago industrial art form - the skyscraper.In 1885, William LeBaron Jenney designed the world's first - the nine-story Home Insurance Building. While Jenney's creation no longer stands, his technology of applying a thin outside skin to an iron-and-steel frame made possible the high-rise construction now taken for granted throughout the world. Works of the giants of American architecture - Daniel Burnham, John Wellborn Root, Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Helmut Jahn - are on daily display in a living architectural arts museum. The numbered sites described here match those on the downtown inset map.

1 Auditorium Building (1889) 430 S. Michigan Ave. First major work by Sullivan and Dankmar Adler. Pioneer multiuse structure combining theatre, office tower, hotel. Theatre one of world's acoustical gems. Hosts stage productions. Note elaborate designs in lobby. Tours available by reservation. By admission. (312)431-2354

2 Harold Washington Public Library (1991) State Street @ Congress. Spectacular roofline of glass and green metal dominates this modern structure housing one of world's largest collections of reading material. Post-Modern western glass wall reflects historic row across street. Open daily, except major holidays. (312)747-4999

3 Monadnock Building (1891) 53 W. Jackson Blvd. North section is tallest masonry structure in the city. Walls at the base are six-feet thick. Architect Root stated that flared base and crown design are based on Egyptian papyrus, or the letter "I". Note marble ceilings and walls; cast-iron light fixtures and staircase in foliated style. Faithfully restored in the 1980's. Across Dearborn Street is the Fisher Building (1896), Gothic-styled edifice faced in ornate terra-cotta with etched fish figures.

4 Federal Center (1974) Dearborn between Adams & Jackson. Three-building complex by van der Rohe in International style. Note I-beam ribs on facades. Plaza dominated by Alexander Calder's Flamingo (1973), a dramatic execution in red steel.

5 The Rookery (1888) SE corner LaSalle & Adams Sts. A masterpiece by Burnham & Root.Granite, terra-cotta and brick materials expressed in a blend of Romanesque Revival and Queen Mary. Building frames a light court which brought illumination to inner offices prior to electricity. Interior remodeled by Frank Lloyd Wrightin 1906. Note exposure of original design on column at left of entrance which had been covered by Wright's additions. Name derived from temporary City Hall on this site which attracted pigeons and other birds.

6 Carson, Pirie Scott & Co. (1899) 1 S. State St. Regarded as Sullivan'sgrandest achievement. While announcing "Form follows Function", Sullivan was taken with ornamentalism. Note the cast-iron rounded corner entrance and the lower floors ornate designs. Open daily except major holidays. (312)641-7000

7 Cultural Center (1897) 78 E. Washington St. Neoclassical design by Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge who also designed the nearby Art Institute. Initially served as city's first public library. The stunning grand stairway leads to Preston Bradley Hall with its Tiffany stained-glass dome. Now houses Office of Tourism and Visitor Center. Open daily except major holidays. (312)744-6630

8 Richard J. Daley Center (1965) Washington, Randolph, Clark & Dearborn Sts. By Jacques Brownson.Massive bays dominate as they rise toward the top. Facade employs a special steel which weathers to a bronze-like patina. Picasso sculpture is central focus of plaza.

9 Thompson Center (1985) 100 West Randolph St. The signature element of Helmut Jahn'snon-linear structure is its 17-story atrium. The glass skin presents an ever changing combination of light and shadows. The plaza features Jean Dubuffet's Monument With Standing Beast,black and white forms rendered in fiberglass. Building is named for former Illinois governor who selected Jahn's design.

10 Sears Tower (1974) 233 S. Wacker Dr. Tallest building in the Western Hemisphere - 1,450 feet (with antennas 1,707 feet). Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill,the tower is braced by nine rectangular tubes resting on steel and concrete caissons. Three tubes extend as far as the 90th floor. Nearly 12,000 people work in the building. Top of tower does not sway more than six inches in high winds. Skydeckoffers spectacular views. Open daily. By admission. (312)875-9696

On Sunday evening, Oct. 8, 1871, the barn behind Patrick O'Leary's home on DeKoven Street caught fire. The cause of the blaze is unknown, but countless theories abound. Many factors combined to feed the fire: drought conditions prevailed; most structures and fencing were built from a dry resinous pine which ignited rapidly; other serious fires had occurred during the prior week exhausting firefighters and damaging their equipment. The Great Fire burned out of control for 36 hours cutting a swath of destruction four miles long by one mile wide. It is estimated 300 people perished; 98,000 were left homeless; 17,450 buildings were destroyed. Fully one-third of the city burned. The tragedy did leave one positive legacy as the city experienced one of the world's greatest building booms in the post-fire decades.

Lake Michigan is the fifth largest freshwater body in the world. Average depth is 279 feet with the deepest point measuring 923 feet. A complex system of 4,200 miles of water mains pump more than one billion gallons of water from the Lake into the city each day. The Lake is generally cold - temperatures seldom rise above 56 degrees making swimming always an invigorating exercise. Chicago River is the world's only stream which flows backward. The natural flow of the River emptied into the Lake. As the city grew, a very shallow sewer system was installed to dispose of waste. Unfortunately, the sewers dumped both rainwater and sewerage into the River which then flowed into the Lake, the city's water supply. In 1885, a 6-inch rain filled the River sending sewerage far out into the Lake past the water intake cribs. The water supply became contaminated and as many as 80,000 people died in a typhoid, cholera and dysentery epidemic. The problem was solved with the opening of the Sanitary & Ship Canal in 1900. This channel reversed the River's flow from the Lake to the Des Plaines River and became an instant success. The construction project resulted in the removal of more earth than the Panama Canal, which later benefited from the technology developed here. Today, a lock at the mouth of the River prevents any reverse discharges into the Lake. Sewerage rarely travels the River's course today as nearly all is handled in the area's waste treatment facilities. Another major distinction of the River is that it is the most "bridged" stream in the world. The City operates more than 50 movable bridges. They represent a living textbook of bridge design. Two types were first used here: the vertical lift - S. Halstead St. (1894) and the Scherzer rolling lift - Cermak Rd. (1906). In 1899 the City determined that the trunnion bascule design was best for the River. In 1982 the Cortland Street Bridge over the North Branch was declared a Civil Engineering Landmark.