Fisher Building

Identification

Map

Structure in general

Usage

Facts

• The steel frame was completed in 25 days, and weighs 12,000 tons.
• Built by paper industry magnate Lucius Fisher.
• Built with an interior of mahogany woodwork and Carrara marble wainscoting - one of the most expensive interiors of its day in Chicago.
• The terra-cotta carvings on the lower floors include seashells and sea creatures, a reference to the name "Fisher". The upper stories are decorated with carvings of eagles and mythical beasts.
• Completed in 2 phases, 10 years apart. The older section to the south is 230 feet tall, 18 stories, and was completed in 1896.
• The original building was designed by Charles Atwood, and the addition by Peter J. Weber - both of D.H. Burnham & Company.
• Edward C. Shankland was the structural engineer for both parts of the building: for the original section as an employee of D.H. Burnham & Company, and as an independent consultant for the addition.
• The original wing was only the second building in Chicago to reach 18 stories (after the Masonic Temple), and is the oldest still standing at that height.
• Because of the building's great height for its time, the usual spread foundations were supplemented with piles underneath them to support the added weight.
• The second floor was originally a banking room, and has especially large windows compared to the floors above it.
• To enhance the facade's vertical emphasis, most of the ornamentation is placed on its horizontal members, reducing the banding effect that would occur if they were blank.
• The Gothic ornament is in the 15th century style of Bruges and Rouen.
• The Van Buren Street entrance was originally the building's main entrance. It was converted to a store when Dearborn Street became the primary access, but today it has been restored as a secondary entry.
• Some of the condominium units retain the mohogany and opaque glass doors with the names of the earlier office tenants.