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Chicago’s Carbide and Carbon Building

Adventures in Architecture

The Carbide and Carbon Building is one of my all time favorite buildings. Its over-the-top ornamentation, dark green terra cotta cladding, and 24K gold beacon on top is just so much Art Deco perfection. ❤️

When we were in Chicago for a few days of fun, we visited the Chicago Architecture Center. We decided to take their Art Deco Skyscrapers: The Riverfront walking tour (which I highly recommend if you like Art Deco architecture). While I enjoyed all the buildings we saw on the tour, my happy place was the Carbide and Carbon Building.

Bronze Art Deco ornamentation on top of the Carbide and Carbon Building tower

Carbide and Carbon Building

The building was designed by Daniel and Hubert Burnham, sons of the famous architect Daniel Burnham, for Union Carbide and Carbon. Completed in 1929, the 40-story building functioned as office space until 2004. After a renovation, it became the Hard Rock Hotel. It is currently the St. Jane Hotel.

Chicago's Art Deco Carbide and Carbon Building - skyscraper with dark green body and gold top

Dark grey Art Deco Carbide and Carbon tower with bronze ornamentation and gold beaconDesign

The Carbide and Carbon building was heavily influenced by Raymond Hood’s 1924 American Radiator Building in New York City. (Interestingly, Hood designed the Tribune Tower, just a few blocks north, in 1922.) The exterior cladding is black granite and a lovely olive green terra cotta. Bronze Art Deco styled trim and details add another layer of decoration.

Michigan Avenue view of Carbide and Carbon Building

Green terra cotta walls and bronze Art Deco decoration on the Carbide and Carbon Building.

Green terra cotta walls of the Carbide and Carbon Building with bronze Art Deco details

The stylized leaves represent the source of Carbide & Carbon’s main material source – carbon from ancient plants.

Stepped green terra cotta walls of the Carbide and Carbon Building.

If the building was merely a twenty story simple box, it would have been very nice. But, Art Deco was not about settling for “nice”. It was all about luxury and extravagance. What’s more extravagant than a bottle of champagne? The central tower, with it’s dark green walls and gold top, was designed to represent a champagne bottle. How cool is that??

Top of the Carbide and Carbon Building dark green tower with bronze details and gold covered beacon.

Dark green terra cotta Carbide and Carbon Building tower with bronze Art Deco ornamentation.

Bronze decoration on dark green terra cotta walls of the Art Deco Carbide and Carbon Building.

Bronze Art Deco details on dark green terra cotta walls of the Carbide and Carbon Building.

Dark green walls and bronze Art Deco decoration of the Carbide and Carbon Building.

The building has two, quite different entrances. The entrance on Michigan Avenue is all about grand scale. The twin revolving doors open to a massive marble lined lobby, with very ornate metalwork.

Black granite, bronze and glass entrance to Carbide and Carbon building.

Bronze Art Deco interior canopy in the lobby of the Carbide and Carbon Building.

Recessed ceiling lights with Art Deco frosted glass in the lobby of the Carbide and Carbon Building.

Bronze Art Deco details with black marble and tan marble walls in the lobby of the Carbide and Carbon Building.

Bronze Art Deco exterior light on black granite wall of the Carbide and Carbon Building

The equally ornate entrance on East Wacker Place has a more pedestrian-friendly scale with a large entry canopy.

Bronze Art Deco entry canopy on the Carbide and Carbide Building

Art Deco bronze ornamentation on the glass storefront of the Carbide and Carbon building.

Art Deco bronze entrance canopy of the Carbide and Carbon Building.

Bronze Art Deco ornamentation on black panels at the entrance canopy of the Carbide and Carbon Building.

Next time you’re in Chicago, take a few minutes to explore the Carbide and Carbon Building. You won’t regret it.

Interested in exploring Art Deco architecture further? Check out these books on Amazon:

Art Deco Architecture: Design, Decoration, and Detail from the Twenties and Thirties

New York Art Deco: A Guide to Gotham's Jazz Age Architecture American Art Deco: Architecture and Regionalism New York DecoArt Deco Architecture Across Canada: Stories of the country's buildings between the two World Wars

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t forget to pin this!

Collage of the top of Carbide and Carbon Building.

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Comments

  1. And that TV show Chicago Fire just set it on fire 2 weeks ago! It looked really real, it’s amazing what they can do with technology!

    Mmmmm champagne.

    It really is such a unique, beautiful building. One of a kind for sure.

  2. I love how you can see it from blocks away, and if there’s a break in the clouds it just lights up.

  3. Great in depth article on this subject. That is one beautiful building inside and out. I love the pictures you used. The St. Jane is my favorite hotel in Chicago by far!

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