Руководство: Историческое здание в Чикаго

Building in Chicago
the building in Chicago

The Rookery Building is a historic office building located at 209 South LaSalle Street in the Chicago Loop. Completed by architects Daniel Burnham and John Wellborn Root of Burnham and Root in 1888, it is considered one of their masterpiece buildings, and was once the location of their offices. The building is 181 feet (55 m) in height, twelve stories tall, and is considered the oldest standing high rise in Chicago. The lobby was remodeled in 1905 by Frank Lloyd Wright. From 1989 to 1992, the lobby was restored to Wright's design. The building was designated a Chicago Landmark on July 5, 1972, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 17, 1970, and listed as a National Historic Landmark on May 15, 1975.

The name is a reference to the temporary city hall building that occupied the land before the current structure.

The Rookery was built in 1886 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. At the same time, they intended their buildings to be commercially successful. This building is one of the few results of their partnership that is still standing. 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.

Making prodigious use of light and ornamentation, Root and Burnham designed a central light court to serve as the focal point for the entire building and provide daylight to interior offices. 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. Wright's work on the Rookery is his only work on any building within the downtown cityscape. The building, which is a combination of cast and wrought iron framing and masonry bearing walls, marked a transitional moment in a switch from masonry to steel skeleton structures.

Burnham & Root had their offices at the Rookery for a while upon its completion, and at one time Frank Lloyd Wright had an office in the building as well.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Trust offers tours inside Mondays through Fridays. Inside Chicago Walking Tours offers daily walking tours that explore the interior of the Rookery in addition to many other historic Chicago buildings. The Chicago Architecture Foundation also provides tours twice a month.

The Rookery Building was featured in the film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, in which the exterior and one of the lower levels were modeled as the toy store Duncan's Toy Chest. The Rookery was used by Frank Norris in his novel The Pit as the site of the office of fictional financial speculator Curtis Jadwin.