McGraw-Hill Building

“The crisp rectilinear profile of McGraw-Hill, combined with its use of non-traditional ornament, also shows the architects' indebtedness to the newly popular Art Deco style, developed as a response to the Exposition des Arts Decoratifs, held in Paris in 1925.”

“A beautiful building in its own right, the McGraw-Hill Building remains today one of only a handful of similar buildings that fully illustrates the promise that North Michigan Avenue held for its creators.”

“Without this building, our understanding of the street's development would be sorely compromised. Origins of the McGraw-Hill Building In June 1928, the Michigan-Grand Building Corporation announced plans to construct a new 16-story office building at the southwest corner of Michigan and Grand avenues.”

“Sculpture and Architecture notes American architects in the 1920s had not abandoned the idea of a decorative architecture, as was encouraged later by practitioners of the most Although not as tall and with fewer setbacks than Saarinen's Chicago Tribune design, the McGraw-Hill Building has similar design elements, including projecting vertical piers, recessed windows, and non-traditional ornament.”

“The McGraw-Hill Building is an excellent example of the typical building intended for the avenue an office building catering to image-conscious corporations and associations. Retail spaces on the building's first two floors were designed to reinforce Michigan Avenue's other urban role as a retail street dedicated to the carriage trade.”

“These provide additional interest to the building's top, which is shaped by setbacks and dramatically topped by a tall limestone parapet pierced by rectangular openings. The McGraw-Hill Building occupies a frontage of 100 feet along Michigan Avenue and 125 feet along Grand Avenue.”

“The McGraw-Hill Building is a study in miniature of the design lessons inherent in Saarinen's Tribune Tower design. An examination of both designs shows striking similarities of form and modeling, including a visually separate base; a shaft, composed of relatively solid corner piers that flank projecting piers and recessed windows; and setbacks that define distinctive building tops.”

“It dates from the building's construction and is one of the few remaining pieces of Michigan Avenue "street furniture." The first three structural bays of the building's south elevation are faced with limestone and ornamented with sculpture similar to that found on the Michigan and Grand facades.”

“The McGraw-Hill Building is a prime example of this trend. Its extensive use of limestone, terra cotta, and cast-iron ornament is of major importance to its visual appeal.”

“The Grand Avenue facade also has panels similar in size and shape, but less elaborate in scheme, bearing only stylized vines, heavy with foliage. Higher in relief and more boldly sculpted than the zodiac panels, these sculptures provide a vertical thrust that takes the eye upward along the building shaft to its summit.”