Architecture of Chicago

Beginning in the early 1880s, architectural pioneers of the Chicago School explored steel-frame construction and, in the 1890s, the use of large areas of plate glass.

William LeBaron Jenney's Home Insurance Building was completed in 1885 and is considered to be the first to use steel in its structural frame instead of cast iron.

Daniel Burnham and his partners, John Welborn Root and Charles B. Atwood, designed technically advanced steel frames with glass and terra cotta skins in the mid-1890s, in particular the Reliance Building;[3] these were made possible by professional engineers, in particular E. C. Shankland, and modern contractors, in particular George A. Fuller.

In the early half of the 20th century, popular residential neighborhoods were developed with Chicago Bungalow style houses, many of which still exist.

[10] A two-flat includes two apartments, each of which occupies a full floor, usually with a large bay window and with a grey stone or red brick facade.

The apartments typically have the same layout with a large living and dining room area at the front, the kitchen at the back and the bedrooms running down one side of the unit.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Illinois Institute of Technology[11] campus in Chicago influenced the later Modern or International style.

In 2010, Chicago Magazine selected 40 still existing properties for their historical and architectural importance,[17] opening an on-line forum for debate.