CHICAGO l Apparel Mart | 845 FT / 258 M | 75 FLOORS | 1928 | NEVER BUILT

ethereal_reality · #1 Posted **May 19, 2008, 5:39 PM**

June 17, 1928.
The Chicago Apparel Mart was to be the world's tallest building,
seventy feet higher than the Woolworth Building in NYC.

The plans included a towering hotel and two convention halls.
It was to be on the south bank of the Chicago river (West Wacker Drive).

I got the information from the back of the illustration (below)

M II A II R II K · #2 Posted **May 19, 2008, 6:00 PM**

That would have been a beauty, but even if it had the status of world's tallest building it would have been very very brief, assuming they even finished it in time.

Jibba · #3 Posted **May 19, 2008, 7:56 PM**

This would have been a beaut. Such a shame. Any idea of the exact spot on Wacker, such as an equivalent address according to today's numbering system? I am very curious to know what is in that spot today.

ethereal_reality · #4 Posted **May 19, 2008, 8:35 PM**

Jibba
I wondered the same thing. I don't know the answer.

Wrightguy0 · #5 Posted **May 19, 2008, 9:32 PM**

Another depression loss, would have been beautiful and the construction would of helped create jobs in a way similar to the Gloden Gate, Hoover Dam and ESB

EDIT: In fact now that I think of it it does have some similarities to the ESB

ardecila · #6 Posted **May 19, 2008, 10:24 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jibba

This would have been a beaut. Such a shame. Any idea of the exact spot on Wacker, such as an equivalent address according to today's numbering system? I am very curious to know what is in that spot today.

ethereal got it wrong; according to a 1928 article in the Tribune (I got it off my library's website) it would have been on East Wacker Drive, roughly where the Hyatt Regency stands today. Holabird and Roche made the original plan for Lakeshore East (although it wasn't called that) back in the late 1920s, 100% Art Deco stretching from Michigan Avenue to the lake.

It was quite the interesting plan; it included an automated garage with 1200 spaces, two auditoriums, three private clubs, an open-air swimming pool on the roof, and a railroad station in the basement with a direct connection to Illinois Central trains.

It would have contained 4.65 million square feet of space, more than the Merchandise Mart or the Sears Tower, and even today, it would be the 10th-biggest building in the world by volume.

Jibba · #7 Posted **May 20, 2008, 12:54 AM**

Thanks, ardecila. This image clears up any confusion I had. It's extra sad now: that Hyatt is unworthy of that spot equally or more so than this grand structure would have been worthy of it. It possibly would have drawn some of the attention away from that nexus of architectural grandeur where Michigan avenue crosses the Main Branch (Tribune, Wrigley, Jewelers, et al), but I am probably just saying that to make myself feel better.

ethereal_reality · #8 Posted **May 20, 2008, 1:25 AM**

Great information aredila.....thanks for the clarification.

I always thought the massive proposal of the 1920s for Lakeshore East
faced east as opposed to facing north.

Ducov · #9 Posted **May 20, 2008, 1:37 AM**

You would not believe how long I have waited to see an actual image of this long lost proposal. I cannot thank you enough.

ardecila · #10 Posted **May 20, 2008, 6:13 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Great information aredila.....thanks for the clarification.

I always thought the massive proposal of the 1920s for Lakeshore East
faced east as opposed to facing north.

I dunno which way it faces... you tell me. All these buildings were merely massing models, but Holabird & Roche clearly planned an iconic point tower roughly at the site of the Apparel Mart.

The Apparel Mart was the first (and last) actual proposal for this district under the Holabird & Roche plan. After it was canceled around 1930, there were two buildings built (One Prudential Plaza in 1955 and Outer Drive East in 1963) and then more inactivity before the massive construction of Illinois Center in 1970, and then slow but steady progress ever since.

ethereal_reality · #11 Posted **May 21, 2008, 2:24 AM**

^^^
hmmm....very interesting aerial.

ethereal_reality · #12 Posted **May 31, 2008, 2:27 PM**

This is the east facing proposal I had stuck in my head.

Eliel Saarinen, proposal for the reorganization of the Chicago lakefront, 1923
(he's basically using his famous 2nd place Tribune Tower proposal)

ardecila · #13 Posted **May 31, 2008, 5:50 PM**

A tip about the roads seen in that rendering - they look akin to a modern high-speed freeway, but I believe they were planned to be extensions of existing city streets - in this case, Lake Street and North Water Street. The pedestrian traffic, of course, would be separated out into a campus-type setting one story up.