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Manufactures Building
This 11 by 7 inch color lithograph seen here depicts the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building at the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. As the main exhibit space of the fair, it was the largest building ever constructed at the time and the most visited site at the exposition. The general scheme for the building was laid out during the early planning stages of the Chicago fair. It was to be located facing Lake Michigan on its long axis and the east end of the Court of Honor, where the other main buildings were grouped, on its short axis. Architect John Wellborn Root, partner of fair director Daniel Burnham, devised the basic function for the building. Because Root died early in the planning stages, the program was radically altered by his successor Charles Atwood. The latter's idea for a clear span surrounded by galleries prevailed, as fair organizers were intent to surpass that of the famous Galerie des Machines at the Paris exposition of 1889. New York architect George B. Post (1837-1913) was chosen to design the Manufactures building from a group of mostly eastern architects selected for the major fair buildings, including Richard Morris Hunt and McKim, Mead and White. His experience in large classically detailed New York buildings such as the Produce Exchange (1881-84) and the Havemeyer Building (1891-93), both demolished, made him a good candidate to uphold the White City ideal of the fair, emphasizing classical canons of composition and ornamentation. His expertise in the use of iron and steel, as in the large interior light court of the Produce Exchange, would come in handy if the Manufactures Building was to succeed in its "clear-span rivalry" with the Galerie des Machines (Hoffmann).
Post succeeded in both aesthetic and technical challenges. Not only the largest building at the fair, the Manufactures Building was one of its greatest architectural assets. It measured 1,687 by 787 feet, had an exhibit space of 44 acres, and a central hall spanning 370 feet and rising 211 feet. The great steel arch trusses were certainly the building's most remarkable feature, left exposed and filled in with glass to form a greenhouse-like ceiling that allowed light to pour in. Surrounding the central space were galleries with additional exhibit space that looked down into the great hall. The exterior was no less impressive. Constructed of the same reinforced plaster as most of the other buildings at the fair, the Manufactures Building featured a severely classical fa ade.
The Chicago World's Fair of 1893 changed America in enormous ways. Probably the most prominent being that it directly changed America's and the world's perception of America and our capabilities. Not only was it the first in America, but the Chicago World's Fair propelled America...
“Cleveland Museum of Art: Building,” Cleveland Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. Web. 25 March, 2014.
From first impression, Burnham found that Chicago had a murky factorial image lined with a “fantastic stink that lingered in the vicinity of Union Stock yards” (41). The dreadful surface that Chicago was maintaining allowed Burnham to be determined to collaborate and recreate its image. His efforts would also make a reputational comeback for America’s poor representation in the Exposition Universelle (15). One major feature that transformed public opinion of the state was to illuminate the entire fair with clean white buildings that outlined the goodness of the area (252). Eye-catching whiteness contradicted the presumed dirtiness of the town. Making a contradiction from what was assumed of the city would allow the fair to generate a much bigger transformation. The lights also gave the fair a unique, whimsical edge. “The lamps that laced every building and walkway produced the most elaborate demonstration of electric illumination ever attempted”, incorporating new technology in a grand-scale way merely to keep the theme of brightness ongoing throughout each day and night (254). Most importantly, it displayed the town’s potential to become a thriving and respected city. The theme of whiteness interlaced with the neoclassical outline in The World Fair’s de...
The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 was the turning point between old Victorian, provential, and backwater ways in the US, and the modern outlook and culture we enjoy today. It was built on a scale that had never been seen before. It provided technological wonders, new cultures, and a look into a brighter future. It helped to take the US from being a backwater, second rate power to a world super power. It was progressive in the labor and safety movements. In short, it was a major turning point in American history.
The World’s Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair, was an event celebrating American invention and innovation on the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s discovery of America. The fair was open for six months and was visited by an estimated 27.5 million people. The Fair was a major influence on the spirt invention associated with the Gilded Age, but it was also influenced by the spirit of the time.
...he building would not be designed the way they are now in the city. The fair allowed Chicago to be the great city it is today and have the magnificent downtown envied by many other cities.
The “White City” was a vast collection of architecture and arts that were put on display in the year 1893. The Chicago World Fair, also called the “White City”, was a major event in American history that impacted America’s culture, economic, and industry. The Chicago World Fair was held to honor Columbus’ discovery of the New World. The real reason why it was made was to proudly have back their wealth and power. Larson said, “the tower not only assured the eternal fame of its designer, Alexandre Gustave Eiffel but also offered graphic proof that France had edged out the United States for dominance in the realm of iron and steel…”(15). To accomplish this, architects led by Daniel Burnham and John Root made numerous buildings and beautiful scenery
William H. Pierson, Jr., American Buildings and Their Architects: Technology and the Picturesque, (Doubleday & Company, Inc.), 167.
Burnham is a well-known architect around the world who previously completed work in “Chicago, New York, Washington, San Francisco, Manila, and many other cities” (Pg. 3). He was offered the job to design and build the buildings that would be a part of the World’s Columbian Exposition (Chicago World’s Fair), after Chicago won the bid for the fair in 1890, and eventually took the offer with his assistant, John Root. The construction of the fair began in 1891 and did not completely finish until the fair was already halfway over in the summer of 1893. During those two and a half years, the success and reputatio...
Philadelphia, the location of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was chosen as the site for the fair. Its central location also played in its favor. The Building Committee hired twenty-seven year-old H. J. Schwarzmann as chief engineer. He not only planned the layout of the grounds, but also designed Memorial and Horticultural Halls, the two structures intended to be permanent. The fairgrounds were about two miles north-west from the center of Philadelphia, across the Schuylkill River in a portion of Fairmount Park. One of the world's largest municipal parks, it was devised in 1682 by the founder of Pennsylvania, William Penn. As he was navigating the Schuylkill River, Penn noticed a grand bluff and exclaimed, "What a faire mount!" (Klein). The natural park-like setting, and the proximity to colonial Philadelphia, created a unique atmosphere for the fair.
Soon after the fire, legislature decided to tear down the remains of the damaged structure and replace it with a larger and more stylish design. Chicago architect, Henry Ives Cobb, was selected to design and build the second capitol. The government gave him a budget of only $550,000, which was not nearly enough to reproduce the size and design that the legislature had envisioned. Due to limited funds, Cobb was unable to finish his intended design. Legislature was embarrassed and unimpres...
The Exhibition Hall built by Stephen Kemp, is the oldest and most unique hall on the fairgrounds; it was the first hall to be built (Wynn). Only used “from (1850-1860), the innovation octagon style was used for hou...
...nt the most advanced aspect of the Fair, was the lightest of all, painted near white. This method of "metaphorical planning" inspired several later cities to utilize similar techniques in their fairs, such the "Mediterranean" architecture scheme of the 1915 San Diego Exposition and the utilitarian coloring of the 1933 Chicago Fair.
Our nation's revolution was a great achievement in U.S History. With the dawn of a new nation, there would have to be a central location to make the new decisions of our country. Our capitol has stood as the heart of our country since the late 1700s. The United States capitol is among the most architecturally impressive and symbolically important buildings in the world. For almost two centuries it has housed the meeting chambers of the senate and the House of Representatives. Begun in 1793, the capitol building has been built, burnt, rebuilt, extended, and restored. Today our capitol stands as a monument to the American people and their government. (AOC.gov)
It is important to recognize that Romantic architecture was not only a return to the past. Modern technologies and materials, as well as non-European influences, also played a role. (Sporre 495-98; Tansey 956). One example is the Crystal Palace designed by Sir Joseph Paxton for the Great Exhibition in London (1851). Made of iron and glass, it was designed to be rapidly put together and taken apart. Another noted architectural example of this period was John Nash’s Royal Pavilion in Brighton (1815-18). The design of this palace was greatly influenced by Islamic and Eastern architecture (Flynn; Sporre 495-98; Tansey 956, 1014).