Beautiful architecture fascinates me, so you can imagine my reaction when I went to the Chicago Cultural Center for our travel bloggers' conference this past summer. I had to return later in the week to prowl around the center and learn more about the building.
Check out my post from Tuesday to find out more about this magnificent example of Beaux Arts-style architecture and craft work in this building, built in 1897 as Chicago's first public library.
The Chicago Cultural Center's best known feature may be the Tiffany art glass dome. I learned a bit about the dome, valued at $35 million, and its recent restoration. Imagine removing, cleaning, restoring and placing 30,000 individual pieces of stained glass back into the dome!
I loved the architectural details like fancy tile work, moldings, railings, and relief work. Even more intriguing might have been finding the little details that hinted at the center's previous life as a library.
The Chicago Cultural Center would certainly merit a return trip from me when I visit Chicago again. Meanwhile, enjoy this little virtual tour of the place.
For more details about the Chicago Cultural Center and its history, check out Inside the Chicago Cultural Center.
To find out what cool re-use for an old vending machine I found at the center, check out Affordable, accessible art at the Art-o-mat in the Chicago Cultural Center.
Thanks to Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby for creating and coordinating Photo Friday to link travel photos and blog posts across the Web.
© Dominique King 2009 All rights reserved
I lived in Chicago for 3 years, and had no idea this place even existed. As usual, exquisite photos!
Posted by: Glennia /The Silent I | October 23, 2009 at 10:07 AM
Beautiful, I love all these architectural details
Posted by: Heather on her travels | October 24, 2009 at 09:00 AM
Whoa. I'm still catching my breath at the dome...just phenomenal.
Posted by: Lorraine | October 24, 2009 at 10:51 PM
Great photos as always. I am fascinated by old buildings, I imagine the great stories they would tell if only they could talk! I particularly love the big windows and the high detailed ceiling in the second picture.
Posted by: maria | October 25, 2009 at 07:26 AM
Glennia-I knew it was worth exploring when I walked in the door. Even the view from our conference room was great (you'll probably see at least one of those photos somewhere down the line)
Heather-This building had so many great architectural details. I'd love to go back and spend an entire day shooting there.
Lorraine-Wasn't that Tiffany dome something? It looked stunning in person, and it was even more impressive when I had a chance to look up the story about it. The GAR dome (photo in the earlier post about this building) was pretty nice as well, although it doesn't get a lot of attention.
maria-That GAR ballroom was sort of tucked away, and we just sort of stumbled into it while trying to get back to the Tiffany dome (I put a photo of the stained glass dome from the GAR ballroom in the earlier post I did about this building-linked near the end of this article).
Posted by: Dominique | October 26, 2009 at 07:24 AM
What a beautiful place. I loved the modings of the celing and the colors of the dome. It's hard to believe that it once was a public library. I loved the pictures Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Marina K Villatoro | October 27, 2009 at 08:47 AM
Marina-Yes, it really is a beautiful building. I wonder how many people appreciated it when it was the library?
Posted by: Dominique | October 28, 2009 at 06:06 PM