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The Reliance Building is a skyscraper located at 1 W. Washington Street in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. The first floor and basement were designed by John Root of the Burnham and Root architectural firm in 1890, with the rest of the building completed by Charles B. Atwood in 1895.
- 1890–1895
- 1 W. Washington St., Chicago, Illinois
The Reliance Building’s design and importance have been recognized by being named a city, state and national landmark. All this, and it is also ‘a thing of beauty’ per Tim Samuelson, Chicago's cultural historian.
Dec 6, 2023 · Learn more about the Reliance Building from the Chicago Architecture Foundation. Read newspaper accounts about the initial construction and evolution of the Reliance Building from 1883 to the present. See how the Reliance Building was carefully restored.
The Reliance Building was one of Chicago's first skyscrapers and is today both a National Historic Landmark and City of Chicago Landmark. Its innovative use of steel and glass revolutionized skyscraper construction, setting an important precedent that continues to shape modern city skylines.
The Reliance Building is a great example of Chicago School tripartite design, yet its glass curtain wall foreshadowed the International Style that developed in the three decades following its completion.
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Passersby in the late 1800s must have been astonished by the Reliance Building because it seemed to have more windows than building – unheard of in those days. Completed in 1895, Daniel Burnham and John Wellborn Root’s firm designed this 14-story building. But it has a peculiar origin story.
The Reliance Building had deteriorated badly by the middle of the 20th century, and was even threatened with demolition. But thanks to heroic action by the City of Chicago, it was saved and was restored magnificently in the late 1990s by restoration architect Gunny Harboe.
