Chicago School

シカゴ派の商業建築 / 1880s–early 1900s / Style / Modern Architecture

A language of late-nineteenth-century commercial high-rises in Chicago, making repeated floors and large windows legible on the facade. Chicago windows combine a broad fixed pane with narrower opening panes. Terracotta and concentrated entrance ornament coexist with this regular structure, distinguishing it from the later International Style.

Chicago School — Reliance Building, Chicago — photo: Jay Carriker — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.5 · © Jay Carriker ( User:JCarriker ) — Reliance Building, Chicago — photo: Jay Carriker — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.5 · CC BY-SA 2.5 · © Jay Carriker ( User:JCarriker )

Chicago School — Reliance Building — HABS measured floor plans (Library of Congress) — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Reliance Building — HABS measured floor plans (Library of Congress) — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

At a glance

Visual cues

A wide fixed window between two narrower opening windows
A repeated grid of piers and floor bands
Projecting window bays and large glazed areas
Pale terracotta or stone with ornament concentrated near entrances

Best used for

Explaining early high-rise architecture through the relationship between windows and structure
Organising a commercial front through daylight, repetition and a distinct entrance

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Dictionary entry

Type: Align signage with entrances and floors rather than covering the facade with a billboard.
Composition: Repeat a three-part window unit between continuous vertical piers and floor bands.
Material: Combine broad glass panes, pale ceramic cladding and dark metal, concentrating detail at the street entrance.
Caution: Not every glazed grid is Chicago School. Keep the early commercial tradition distinct from the later Second Chicago School and from the Chicago Imagists in painting.
Further study: Reliance Building — Charles B. Atwood / D. H. Burnham & Co. / Marquette Building — Holabird & Roche / Sullivan Center — Louis Sullivan

Related entries

International Style (インターナショナル・スタイル)Same Modern Architecture lineage.Compare Chicago School and International Style
Richardsonian Romanesque (リチャードソニアン・ロマネスク)Shared effects: Trust.Compare Chicago School and Richardsonian Romanesque

Cite this entry

The dictionary is meant to be linked to. Take whichever form fits where you are writing.

Link: https://indexstyle.org/styles/chicago-school
Markdown: [Chicago School — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/chicago-school)
HTML: <a href="https://indexstyle.org/styles/chicago-school">Chicago School — IndexStyle</a>

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