5 Great Gothic Highrises of Chicago
Images by Chris Hytha
Writing by Mark Houser
Five historic skyscrapers from Chicago, IL built in a gothic style.
A century ago, Chicago was brimming over with bootleg gin, flappers swinging to Louie Armstrong's hot jazz, gangsters toting tommy guns, and a burst of soaring new Gothic skyscrapers. A craze for highrises dressed up as medieval cathedrals swept the Windy City in the Roaring Twenties. A few also showed traces of a bold new architectural wave that would break before the decade ended — Art Deco.
Drone photography of the Tribune Tower in Chicago, IL from the Highrises Collection.
Tribune Tower
Chicago, IL
The self-proclaimed “World’s Greatest Newspaper” held a contest to design the world’s loveliest office building, and more than 260 contest entries poured in from architects around the globe eager for publicity and the $100,000 prize. Rouen Cathedral was the inspiration for the winning entry’s elegant silhouette. It inspired a host of imitators, and while the newspaper has moved out, its former home on Michigan Avenue remains one of the city’s most beloved skyscrapers.
Drone photography of Mather Tower in Chicago, IL from the Highrises Collection.
Mather Tower
(Club Quarters Hotel Wacker at Michigan)
Chicago, IL
When Chicago relented and removed its building height limit in 1923 to allow narrow towers, this telescope-shaped highrise took advantage. Originally planned as twin towers, only one was actually built, and for a while its observation platform was as high as anyone could go in the city without boarding a zeppelin. The original cupola that topped it wore out and was replaced two decades ago with a new one hoisted up by helicopter.
Drone photography of American Furniture Mart Building AKA Lake Shore Place in Chicago, IL from the Highrises Collection.
American Furniture Mart
(680 North Lake Shore Drive)
Chicago, IL
When the world’s largest commercial building needed a bit more panache, the builders added a Gothic tower section capped by a handsome blue and gold roof. With two million square feet of floor space, the vast complex of showrooms displayed kitchen sets, couches, beds and dressers to prospective retailers. The tower section is now residential, while the main building now houses mostly medical offices, but was for a time the headquarters of Playboy magazine.
Drone photography of the Steuben Club Building in Chicago, IL from the Highrises Collection.
Steuben Club Building
(Randolph Tower)
Chicago, IL
Wealthy German businessmen erected this skyscraper for their social and athletic club, named after Baron von Steuben, the Prussian noble who trained George Washington's troops. Club rooms originally filled the narrow upper tower, while the bulkier lower part was mostly leaseable office space, topped with the club's exercise rooms and handball courts, a lavish two-story ballroom and main dining hall, and a skylit natatorium.
Drone photography of the Reliance Building in Chicago, IL from the Highrises Collection.
Reliance Building
(Hotel Burnham)
Chicago, IL
The 1920s boom for Gothic skyscrapers can trace its lineage back to this 19th century classic. It’s only fair, because this building was decades ahead of its time. By Daniel Burnham, one of the greatest architects of the age, this highrise features delicate terracotta ornamentation, but what catches the eye more than anything are the huge windows. The doctors and dentists who leased space here needed all the light they could get.
DID YOU KNOW?
You can sort the Highrises collection by style to see more Gothic skyscrapers. Or choose Art Deco, Beaux-Arts, Renaissance, and others. You can also sort by other attributes like city, height, decade, statues… Give it a try and see what you turn up!
Chicago Highrises Phone Wallpapers
$10.00
Take your pick from 16 Highrises phone wallpaper screens showing the historic skyscrapers of Chicago. Choose from Art Deco, Gothic, and other classics of a century ago and more. Chicago is known the world over for its skyscrapers towering over Lake Michigan. Each image comes from the Highrises collection of high-res artistic composite drone photography digitally enhanced for incredibly detailed views of these attractive antique skyscrapers.
