Motoring Chicago
[Chicago Motor Club Building (1928) Holabird & Root, architects /Image & Artwork: designslinger]
The Art Deco tower looks a little worse for wear but when the Chicago Motor Club moved
into the building in January, 1929, Deco was all the rage, the Great Depression hadn't happened yet, and automobiles were on their way to becoming the primary choice of personal transportation in the U.S.
[Chicago Motor Club, 65 E. Wacker Place, Chicago, March 6, 2010 /Images & Artwork: designslinger]
The Club, founded in 1906, was moving from smaller quarters just as the car was growing
in prominence, and the influence of the Motor Club. The main floor offered a great hall with a large map mural of the U.S. and compartments containing hundreds of brochures to make auto touring as easy as possible. They were very active in lobbying local government for the widening of existing roadways in the city and surrounding suburbs, advocating the destruction of buildings to make way for the car.
[Streamline-Deco details, Chicago Motor Club Building /Images & Artwork: designslinger ]
Architects Holabird and Root added the Motor Club to a list of projects in the Art Deco
Streamline vernacular that the firm designed in the late 20s. It took a recording breaking 8 months to complete the building and was the Club's home until the late 1990s. It has sat vacant since 2004 waiting to be torn down, turned into a boutique hotel or condo apartments.
Posted by designslinger at 5/12/2010 1:43 AM 
Categories: Architecture, History
Tags: art deco Chicago Motor Club Holabird and Root
Categories: Architecture, History
Tags: art deco Chicago Motor Club Holabird and Root
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