Strikingly Typed
[Oliver Typewriter Building (1907) Holabird & Roche, architects /Images & Artwork: designslinger]
Chances are that if you've ever found yourself walking down Dearborn Street between
Lake and Randolph you've passed this building a million times without noticing it. We, as humans, have a tendency to look straight ahead or down at our feet when we walk, especially if we're in a hurry to get from point a to point b. We glance up and notice the first or second stories of a building but very seldom do we take in the upper floors and often miss a lot. The Oliver Typewriter Building at 159 N. Dearborn Street is worth a look-see if you ever find yourself in the neighborhood.
[Oliver Typewriter Building, 159 N. Dearborn Street, Chicago /Images & Artwork: designslinger]
The Oliver Typewriter Company started-up operations in 1895, so they were a relatively
new company when they leased this piece of property and asked the pre-eminent architectural firm of Holabird & Roche to design their world headquarters. The architects incorporated the now famous "Chicago Window" into their design, wrapped in extravagant decoration. When the building was ready for occupancy in 1907 it stood only 5 stories tall, but the architects had designed the structure to hold an additional 5 floors if and when the company needed more space.
[Oliver Typewriter Building details /Images & Artwork: designslinger]
By 1920 that's just what happened when Holabird & Roche were called back in to add an
additional 3 floors. Unfortunately, the Oliver Company was out of business by 1928 and by 1974 it looked like the Oliver Building would be to. The city's Commissioner of Development and Planning Department decided that the building would be in the way of a big planned redo for this portion of Chicago's Loop, and all this amazing detail was ready for the rubbish heap. Twenty-some years later the Oliver was still standing, although somewhat forlorn and neglected, when it was announced that the old Oriental Theater, a crumbling movie palace around the corner, was going to be refurbished and turned into a live theatrical venue. The Oriental's rear stage wall butted-up against the back wall of the Oliver and space was needed in order to put on big musical extravaganzas.
So the facade of the Oliver was saved, rehabilitated and preserved, while the interior was
gutted and joined with the Oriental. For some in the preservation community this wasn't preservation at all but more like a facelift done for all the wrong reasons. They lost their battle, the interior was gutted, but the ornate exterior is there for all to see. And, there is a little secret on the building facade that I won't reveal here, but that you can find if you take the time to look-up at the ornamentation in the spandrels of the upper floors. A clue: without the Oliver name on the building, you might know that the structure once had something to do with typewriters.
Read more about the Chicago Window in: Chicago's Window to the World
Posted by designslinger at 7/26/2010 1:45 AM 
Categories: Architecture, History, Preservation
Tags: Holabird and Roche Oliver Typewriter Company Oriental Theater
Categories: Architecture, History, Preservation
Tags: Holabird and Roche Oliver Typewriter Company Oriental Theater
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