Skyscraper of the Day, Part 5

Civic Opera, 20 N. Wacker Drive.  Graham, Anderson, Probst, and White, 1929.  View from southwest.  (Contemporary post card, collection of Thomas Leslie)

Powered construction, advanced structural engineering, and rapid elevators found their ultimate expression in four record-breaking Chicago projects built on the brink of the Depression. The Civic Opera (GAPW, 1929), the Daily News Building (H&R, 1929), The Board of Trade (H&R, 1930), and the Merchandise Mart (GAPW, 1930) each faced complex structural and circulations problems that were solved almost entirely behind the scenes, with their heroic engineering disguised by streamlined art deco veneers. 

Taken from Chicago Skyscrapers, 1871-1934 (University of Illinois Press, June 2013).


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