Today’s Flickr photo with the most hits: the Reliance Building, State Street, Chicago. Th
Today’s Flickr photo with the most hits: the Reliance Building, State Street, Chicago. The ground floor and basement were designed by John Root of the Burnham and Root architectural firm in 1890, with the rest of the building completed by Charles B Atwood in 1895. (Tenants on the upper floors of the existing building refused to give up their leases, so Root jacked up their floors and put his new build underneath. Only when their leases expired, was the building completed by Atwood, assuming its current appearance). It was the first skyscraper to have large plate glass windows make up the majority of its surface area, foreshadowing a design feature that would become dominant in the 20th century. The white terra cotta tiles were intended to be self-cleaning (it didn’t work). Currently, the building is an hotel and cafe. -- source link
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