American architecture began making its mark during the 19th century, particularly in Chicago. After the Great Fire of Chicago, the city had to be rebuilt, that coupled with new technologies of the modern age presented an opportunity to plan Chicago and utilize its acreage to the fullest extent by building upward. From this age, American architecture was born.
American architect, H. H. Richardson made a huge impression and set the precedent of American architectural design in Chicago by designing the Marshall Field Wholesale Store. The building Richardson designed spanned the entire city block. When designing the Marshall Field building, Richardson clearly took architectural cues from the past but changed them to make them recognizable as his style and as a clear American style of architecture. The lack of ornamentation on the exterior facade helped define his aesthetic and the American architectural movement.
We easily recognize the lines and form of the Marshall Field building in the Medici Palace designed by Bartolomeo in the 15th century. As with the Medici Palace, the medieval structure style is improved upon by the new technologies of the day. The Marshall Field building was designed to be an attractive, yet unfussy, utilitarian space employing and improving on design details of the past.
New technologies and materials were used in the design and construction of the Marshall Field building that, while innovative for the time, set the standard for building American skyscrapers. This building did not depend on any of the masonry that is visible from the outside as its load-bearing structure. The building was built using a steel and wood frame and the exterior masonry was added around the skeleton of the building.
The facade was constructed of rough red granite and red sandstone. The use of materials and the roughness of them helped to emphasize the size and importance of the building. The rows of stone were set in courses that give the illusion of a four-story building. The Marshall Field building had, in fact, eight floors including the basement. Because the facade was a skin wrapped around the building, the windows seemed deeper and took on more visual significance. While there was very little ornamentation on the building, there were small details around the course just below the roof line that were almost undetectable but would be noticeably missed if not there.
Again, this detail reminds us of design elements of the past only more streamlined and not structural.
The materials, technologies, and size were all integral pieces to form this modern, American building and they set the stage for American architects to be forward thinkers while embracing the architectural bones of the past.
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