Carbide and Carbon
designslinger]
In the late 1920s Art Deco was all the rage and Burnham Brothers embraced the style with quite a flourish when they crowned the Carbide and Carbon Building with a gleaming gold leaf Deco spire and lots of Deco trim to cap the slender tower.
When the building was finished in 1929, the Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation (the Eveready battery company) moved in. And since they were the major tenant of the 40 story structure, they got to put their name on the building.
The brothers of the Burnham name were architect Daniel Burnham's sons Daniel, Jr. and Hubert, and the Carbide and Carbon was a departure from their previous classically inspired design work. The building brought them lots of attention, but unfortunately the Great Crash was just around the corner, and the resulting financial depression put the breaks on any new, large building projects for quite a while.
By the late 1960s, Union Carbide was ready to head to a newer building that offered modern technology and conveniences. A large transformation occurred in 2004 when the Hard Rock corporation opened a 381-room hotel in the building. The exterior was restored along with the original entry lobby, while the remainder of the structure was gutted and turned into a hostelry. And after 81 years, the old Carbide and Carbon remains a standout along the Michigan Avenue skyline.
Posted by designslinger at 2/16/2010 1:43 AM 
Categories: Architecture, History, Adaptive Reuse, Preservation
Tags: Art Deco Burnham Brothers D.H. Burnham & Co. Lucien Lagrange Wiss Janney Elstner Associates
Categories: Architecture, History, Adaptive Reuse, Preservation
Tags: Art Deco Burnham Brothers D.H. Burnham & Co. Lucien Lagrange Wiss Janney Elstner Associates
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