Chicago Landmarks
 

Auditorium Building

Michigan Avenue elevation     Address: 430 S. Michigan Ave.
Year Built: 1886 - 1890
Architect: Adler & Sullivan
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: September 15, 1976

Theater vestibule Congress Parkway elevation The extraordinary engineering talent of Dankmar Adler and the architectural genius of Louis H. Sullivan created this building to reflect the cultural maturity of Chicago. Combining hotel and office space with a splendid theater designed for an opera company, the Auditorium was a turning point in Sullivan's career and a milestone in the development of modern architecture.

Sullivan's genius for architectural ornamentation is displayed in the building's interior, where most of the public rooms are lavishly finished. The grandest interior space is the theater itself, with four broad elliptical arches spanning the width of the theater and decorated by plaster reliefs covered with gold leaf.

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