Sources
Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web.
Submit a site - Become an editor
Wikipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Are you an expert in this subject? Join the discussion and share your knowledge at Wikipedia.org.
Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company | |
|---|---|
| (U.S. National Historic Landmark) | |
 |
|
| Location: | Chicago, Illinois |
| Coordinates: | |
| Built/Founded: | 1899 |
| Architect: | Louis Sullivan; Burnham,Daniel H., & Co. |
| Architectural style(s): | Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements |
| Added to NRHP: | April 17, 1970 |
| Reference #: | 70000231 [1] |
| Governing body: | Private |
The Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building is a landmark department store building at 1 South State Street in Chicago, Illinois. It was designed by Louis Sullivan, built in 1899 for the retail firm Schlesinger & Meyer, and expanded and sold to Carson Pirie Scott in 1904.
The building is remarkable for its steel structure, which allowed a dramatic increase in window area, which in turn allowed far more daylight into the building interiors, and far more display of merchandise to outside pedestrian traffic. The lavish cast-iron ornamental work above the rounded tower was also meant to be functional. Sullivan designed the corner entry to be seen from both State and Madison, and that the ornamentation, situated above the main entrance, would be literally attractive. The building is one of the classic structures of the Chicago school. The ornate decorative panels on the lowest stories of the building are now generally credited to George Grant Elmslie who was Sullivan's chief draftsman after Frank Lloyd Wright left the firm. When Elmslie left the firm himself the same distinct intricate scrollwork panels left with him and appear in his own designs; and Sullivan's style proceeds elsewhere.
In August of 2006, the parent of Carson Pirie Scott announced that after the Christmas, 2006 season, the department store business in the building would be closed. There were no immediate announcements as to what new use the building will be converted to. Carson's closed the building in February 2007.
- Siry, Joseph M. Carson Pirie Scott: Louis Sullivan and the Chicago Department Store. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1988. ISBN 0-226-76136-3
- ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2006-03-15).