First Chicago School
Some of the distinguishing features of the Chicago School are the use of steel-frame buildings with masonry cladding (usually terra cotta), allowing large plate-glass window areas and limiting the amount of exterior ornamentation. Sometimes elements of neoclassical architecture are used in Chicago School skyscrapers. Many Chicago School skyscrapers contain the three parts of a classical column. The lowest floors functions as the base, the middle stories, usually with little ornamental detail, act as the shaft of the column, and the last floor or two, often capped with a cornice and often with more ornamental detail, represent the capital.
In the 1940s, a „Second Chicago School“ emerged from the work of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his efforts of education at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Mies sought to concentrate on neutral architectural forms instead of historicist ones, and the standard Miesian building is characterized by the presence of large glass panels and the use of steel for vertical and horizontal members.
The buildings and architecture of Chicago reflect the city’s history and multicultural heritage, featuring prominent buildings in a variety of styles. Most structures downtown were destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 (an exception being the Water Tower).
Chicago’s architectural styles include Chicago Bungalows, Two-Flats, and Graystones along Logan Boulevard and Lawndale Avenue. The Loop is home to skyscrapers as well as sacred architecture including „Polish Cathedrals“. Chicago is home to one of the largest and most diverse collections of skyscrapers in the world.
Architecture of Chicago wikipedia