Fine Arts Building
When this imposing structure was built in 1885 it was two stories shorter and housed a
horse-drawn wagon and carriage manufacturing company.
In 1896 the building became a very early example of adaptive reuse when it was
converted from the factory and showroom of the Studebaker Manufacturing Company, into a building offering studio space to musicians, dancers, artists and architects.
Architect Solon S. Beman's massive facade is typical of the Romanesque-revival style
which was very popular in the United States in the late 19th century.
The remodeled interior became a center for the arts. Brand name tenants like Frank Lloyd
Wright, sculptor Lorado Taft, and Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum once had offices in the building.
From its opening in 1898 up until the 1920s, the building was a very successful real-estate
venture for its owners. Along with prominent individual tenants, the building housed two music schools, a dance school, several studios associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement and several culturally inclined organizations, including the Municipal Art League, and the Fortnightly, a literary club.
By the time of the Great Depression the art colony that had established itself in the
building began to move on and out. Today the place is showing its age, but the hallways are still full of the sounds of pupils practicing the piano or violin, and singers doing their scales. Young ballerinas walk through with their toes shoes in hand, while artists hang their works on the walls outside their studios. And even architects are still drawing up plans from offices facing Michigan Avenue with spectacular views of the lake.
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Posted by designslinger at 11/3/2009 2:35 AM 
Categories: Architecture,Preservation,History
Tags: Solon S. Beman Studebaker Building Chicago
Categories: Architecture,Preservation,History
Tags: Solon S. Beman Studebaker Building Chicago
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