Rookery Building

Chicago, United States

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

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The Rookery Building at 209 South LaSalle Street in downtown Chicago stands as a masterwork of the Chicago School, completed in 1888 by Daniel Burnham and John Wellborn Root. At fifty-five meters and twelve stories tall, it is Chicago's oldest standing high-rise, featuring exterior load-bearing walls combined with an interior steel frame. The building's most distinctive feature is its light court, which bathes a two-story atonal lobby with ornamental stairs in natural illumination. Frank Lloyd Wright remodeled the lobby between 1905 and 1907, work that was restored to his design from 1989 to 1992. Designated a Chicago Landmark and listed as a National Historic Landmark, the Rookery once housed the offices of its architects and remains a defining example of early Chicago commercial architecture.

Architect

Burnham and Root Frank Lloyd Wright

Movement

Chicago School

Built: 1888
Type: tower block, office building
Heritage: National Register of Historic Places listed place, Chicago Landmark
Height: 55 m
Place: Chicago, United States

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Location

41.87908, -87.63211