Carson Pirie Scott & Company Building

“The Carson Pirie Scott store is considered by many to be Sullivan's greatest masterpiece and one of the finest examples of commercial architecture anywhere in the world. Retail Development in Chicago From the first days of its settlement, Chicago provided a profitable atmosphere for the growth of commerce and industry.”

“To accomplish these ends, Sullivan surrounded the huge display windows of the first two stories with cast iron, molded into lavish, delicate, ornamental patterns. Leaves, berries, flowers, vines, and geometric forms intertwine to produce a rich and decorative window frame that arrests the eye and sets off the merchandise within.”

“A new mold was then made from this exposed metal and the ornament cast in aluminum rather than iron. While the 1961 addition was going up, Carsons also began exterior renovation of the first two levels of Sullivan's building under the direction of the company's staff architect, Mason Walker.”

“Throughout the building the floors are open spaces, interrupted only by the grid of uniformly placed columns which house the steel interior supports. But Sullivan's sense of scale, proportion, and an extremely imaginative use of highly original ornament transformed the building from something commonplace to a work of art, illuminating the difference between warehousing and merchandising.”

“Both Schlesinger and Mayer and Carson Pirie Scott commissioned parts of the architectural masterpiece at State and Madison. Schlesinger and Mayer originated the project and chose Sullivan as architect.”

“The pencil drawings were then translated into plaster molds by Kristian Schneider, a sculptor who worked with Sullivan for twenty years, modeling nearly all the ornament for execution in iron, terra cotta, or plaster for buildings dating from the Auditorium of 1889 to the Midwest banks that Sullivan designed during the last years of his career.”

“The Carson Pirie Scott store was Sullivan's last large commercial building, and after this assignment his career declined rapidly. In the last twenty years of his life, Sullivan designed fewer than twenty buildings: small stores and offices (including the Krause Music Store, designated a Chicago Landmark on September 28, 1977), two residences, a church, and a series of small exquisite bank buildings, which have often been referred to as "jewel box" banks.”

“The Owners Schlesinger and Mayer, one of the city's earliest department stores, was founded in 1872 by Leopold Schlesinger and Daniel Mayer, both businessmen from Germany. The firm remained at the corner of State and Madison for over thirty years before the partners sold their interests to Carson Pirie Scott & Company in 1904.”

“In July, 1874, Sullivan set sail for Paris and training at the renowned Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Though he enjoyed his time in Paris, Sullivan was dissatisfied with the architectural program at the Ecole.”

“Linda Legner, project coordinator John Hern, designer Janice Van Dyke, production assistant The Carson Pirie Scott & Company building ranks as one of the most important structures in early modern architecture.”