Schlesinger & Meyer Building

Northwest ornamental cast-iron entrance, general view, from northwest across State Street; Built in 1899 for the retail firm Schlesinger & Meyer, and expanded and sold to Carson Pirie Scott in 1904.Addition by Burnham in 1905, later addition by Holabird and Root, 1960; both additions follow Sullivan's original plan. "For the remainder of the 1890s Sullivan concentrated on producing a series of brilliant 'skyscraper' designs. Of the nineteen such designs conceived between 1890 and 1901, nine were executed. The Carson Pirie Scott Store (1898-1904) in Chicago is the most minimal, with the broad grid of its steel structure frankly exposed." To this Sullivan added Art Nouveau ornamentation based on plant forms. The Carson Pirie Scott Store was his last large urban structure. [The store closed February 21, 2007.] Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.groveart.com/ (accessed 1/9/2008