Equitable Building (Chicago)

401 North Michigan
401 North Michigan
Alternative names	Equitable Building
General information
Location	Chicago, Illinois USA
Coordinates	41°53′23″N87°37′23″W / 41.889601°N 87.622977°W Coordinates: 41°53′23″N87°37′23″W / 41.889601°N 87.622977°W
Completed	1963–1965
Height	457 feet (139 m)
Technical details
Floor count	35 total
Floor area	800,000 sq ft (74,000 m2)
Design and construction
Architect	Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
References

Last updated September 23, 2022

401 North Michigan is a 35-story skyscraper in the Streeterville area of Chicago, built in 1965 at 401 North Michigan Avenue, along the north bank of the Chicago River. It was designed by Bruce Graham and Natalie de Blois in the international style. Along with the Tribune Tower and Wrigley Building, it forms the southern gateway to Chicago's famous Magnificent Mile. The building was built atop the site of a cabin belonging to Chicago's first permanent resident, Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable. In reference to du Sable, the large plaza adjacent to the building has been named Pioneer Court.

History

401 North Michigan occupies a site with several aspects of historical significance, both on a local and national scale. The site was originally settled by du Sable around 1779, and operated as a personal residence and fur-trading post, forming the very beginnings of the city of Chicago. In 1803, Fort Dearborn was built by the United States government immediately across the river, helping to protect the growing trading post from local Native American tribes. One year later in 1804, John Kinzie bought du Sable's property and occupied it until his death in 1828. In 1849, Cyrus McCormick moved to Chicago to set up a factory for his invention, the horse-drawn reaper, and purchased several lots on the former du Sable/Kinzie property, eventually developing a large factory complex. After this factory burned in the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, McCormick moved his factory to the West Side. Even as Michigan Avenue was slowly rebuilt into the city's premier street beginning in the 1920s, the site remained industrial in usage, and by 1961, it had become a parking lot.^[5]

In 1961, the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States announced its intention to construct a new, modern office tower at the 401 North Michigan site, relocating its sizable Chicago offices from cramped space at 29 South LaSalle Street. The announcement described the proposed 800,000 ft² tower as a "glittering structure of metal, marble, and glass set amid a picturesque plaza."^[6] Construction began in 1963 and concluded in 1965.

In addition to Equitable, one of the largest tenants of the building—occupying 12 floors—was the International Harvester Company (now Navistar International Corporation), the descendant of Cyrus McCormick's original reaper works, which intended to "return to its birthplace."^[7]

Architecture

The box-shaped building, designed by Bruce Graham and Natalie de Blois of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, was designed in the International Style with large columns and spandrel beams expressed on each facade and covered in anodized aluminum, complemented by large windows on all four sides of the building. As in many office towers, a core containing stairs, elevators, and bathrooms lies at the center.

At the urging of the Chicago Tribune , Graham designed the building with a 175-foot (53 m) setback from Michigan Avenue, to avoid blocking views of the Chicago River from the Tribune's nearby building. A large plaza created by this setback was named Pioneer Court, envisioned by both Equitable and the Tribune as a monumental civic space in Chicago honoring various civic founders, including du Sable and Kinzie. The plaza is at the elevated level of Michigan Avenue, and would be paved in granite, with trees and a large reflecting pond. Underneath the building and plaza were to be commercial spaces and parking, as well as an existing single-track railroad line leading to Navy Pier. Along the river edge, Graham designed a curvilinear promenade for a riverfront restaurant with a helical staircase down from the plaza above.

Today

Equitable itself, no longer maintains offices in the building, which is currently marketed as 401 North Michigan. It remains a successful office tower. In 2003, NBC 5 Chicago opened a street-level studio at the lobby level of the Equitable Building, becoming the first Chicago television station to open such a studio, and starting a trend. ABC 7 Chicago and CBS 2 would open their own street-level studios several years later in other downtown locations.

In 2017 the riverfront restaurant and helical staircase were replaced by a new flagship store for Apple, also with the address 401 N Michigan Ave, and designed by the London-based architecture firm Foster + Partners.^[8]

Pioneer Court, often mistakenly called "Pioneer Plaza", is largely the great civic space imagined at the time of its construction. Since it was built, it has hosted numerous art installations, performances, civic events, advertising events, and festivals. It has also been featured in several films and television advertisements. In 1992, Pioneer Court was redesigned and extended eastward around the office tower by Cooper, Robertson & Partners in a vaguely Postmodernist style, in conjunction with the massive Cityfront Center development just to the east.

Related Research Articles

Jean Baptiste Point du Sable is regarded as the first permanent non-Indigenous settler of what would later become Chicago, Illinois, and is recognized as the "Founder of Chicago". A school, museum, harbor, park, bridge, and road have been named in his honor. The site where he settled near the mouth of the Chicago River around the 1780s is identified as a National Historic Landmark, now located in Pioneer Court.

Fort Dearborn was a United States fort built in 1803 beside the Chicago River, in what is now Chicago, Illinois. It was constructed by troops under Captain John Whistler and named in honor of Henry Dearborn, then United States Secretary of War. The original fort was destroyed following the Battle of Fort Dearborn during the War of 1812, and a second fort was constructed on the same site in 1816. By 1837, the fort had been de-commissioned.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streeterville</span> Neighborhood in Chicago

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The Railway Exchange Building, also known as Santa Fe Building, is a 17-story office building in the Historic Michigan Boulevard District of the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It was designed by Frederick P. Dinkelberg of D. H. Burnham & Company in the Chicago style. Dinkelberg was also the associate designer to Daniel Burnham for the Flatiron Building in New York City.

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References

1 2 3 4 "401 North Michigan Avenue". glasssteelandstone.com. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
↑ "One First National Plaza". Skyscraper.org. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
↑ "Equitable Building, Chicago". Emporis. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
↑ "Emporis building ID 117399". Emporis . Archived from the original on 2015-05-14., Retrieved 2010-03-16
↑ "Equitable Seeks Building Site on Michigan Avenue". Chicago Daily Tribune. 20 September 1961.
↑ "Equitable Tells Skyscraper Plan". Chicago Daily Tribune. 9 December 1961.
↑ Gowran, Clay (10 November 1964). "Name River Beauty Spot 'Pioneer Court'". Chicago Tribune.
↑ Kozlarz, Jay (October 20, 2017). "A look back at the construction of Chicago's new Michigan Avenue Apple store". Curbed Chicago. Retrieved 2017-10-20.

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[glasssteelandstone-1] 1 2 3 4 "401 North Michigan Avenue". glasssteelandstone.com. Retrieved 2010-03-16.

[2] "One First National Plaza". Skyscraper.org. Retrieved 2010-03-16.

[3] "Equitable Building, Chicago". Emporis. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved 2010-03-16.

[4] "Emporis building ID 117399". Emporis . Archived from the original on 2015-05-14., Retrieved 2010-03-16

[5] "Equitable Seeks Building Site on Michigan Avenue". Chicago Daily Tribune. 20 September 1961.

[6] "Equitable Tells Skyscraper Plan". Chicago Daily Tribune. 9 December 1961.

[7] Gowran, Clay (10 November 1964). "Name River Beauty Spot 'Pioneer Court'". Chicago Tribune.

[curbedchicago-8] Kozlarz, Jay (October 20, 2017). "A look back at the construction of Chicago's new Michigan Avenue Apple store". Curbed Chicago. Retrieved 2017-10-20.

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