Merchandising Art
[ArtChicago, April 30, 2010; Merchandise Mart corridor /Images & Artwork: designslinger]
I attended the latest incarnation of Art Chicago and NEXT , all presented under the banner,
Artopolis. It all started 30 years ago, and has grown and dimished in stature over the decades, depending on who the organizers were and the responses from gallery owners and the art community. There was A LOT of art to see presented by galleries from around the world, so I guess it made sense that the exhibition was held in the world's largest, privately-owned commercial building, the Merchandise Mart.
[Merchandise Mart (1930) Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, architects /Image & Artwork: designslinger]
I say privately-owned because the only building larger than the Mart is the Pentagon,
which it just so happens is owned by the U.S. government. Sitting on two full city blocks, the structure's 4,025,400 sq.ft. of floor space is equal to 93 acres of land. It has 5,200 windows, or 4,000 depending on the source, and believe it or not, sits 23 feet above ground level.
[Merchandise Mart Tower, Art Deco details and MM logo /Images & Artwork: designslinger]
When the great Chicago retailer Marshall Field & Co. decided to build a new warehouse in
1927 they picked the site of the former Chicago & Northwestern Passenger Depot and Railyard. The C&NW also operated a freight line in the railyard which turned out to be a bonus for Fields. The building was originally intended to house just the wholesale and manufacturing arm of the company, but by the time construction was underway a big change happened. Fields asked the architectural firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White to design a building that increased in size five-fold over the original plan and hovered over the rail tracks on air rights purchased from the rail company. All told the project cost Fields 31 million dollars and instead of housing just Field merchandise, the company would rent the additional floor space to other manufacturers and wholesalers for use as showrooms featuring their product lines. Since the building would be suspended over the tracks all the tenants would have direct access to rail transport. It became, and still is, a storehouse of high-end furniture and fabrics, carpets and wallpapers, giftwares and glassware and anything in between. For decades it has been the place for interior designers to find some of the best of the best for their discerning clientele.
[Merchandise Mart interior Art Deco details /Images & Artwork: designslinger]
When the building opened in 1930 the Field organization occupied over half of the building,
and despite the Great Depression had no problem filling the remaining space with tenants all through the 1930s and into the 1940s. Eventually Fields got out of the wholesale and manufacturing business and by 1945 were only using the building for executive offices. So they sold the Art Deco behemoth to Joseph P. Kennedy, yes the father of the President, for $16 million. The Kennedy family held on to the building until 1998 when the structure was sold for $625 million to a large real estate investment trust. Ironically, old man Joe's grandson Christopher is still associated with the organization that put on the art extravaganza, Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc., where he serves as president.
Posted by designslinger at 5/6/2010 2:19 AM 
Categories: Architecture, Art, History
Tags: Chicago Marshall Field and Co. Graham Anderson Probst and White Merchandise Mart Kennedy Family
Categories: Architecture, Art, History
Tags: Chicago Marshall Field and Co. Graham Anderson Probst and White Merchandise Mart Kennedy Family
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