The developer

Owen Aldis, the local agent for the Boston firm of Brooks Brothers, became a major player on the real estate scene in Chicago. By the end of the 19th century he was managing twenty percent of the city’s downtown office space, and expanding his influence as the sole representative of the Brookses by investing in property on his own. Aldis assumed virtual leadership of the Marquette Building Company, which was funded by the Brookses, relied on George Fuller as the contractor, and commissioned designs from Holabird & Roche starting with the mid-1880’s. His ability to convince wary investors to build skyscrapers was complemented by a basic set of design guidelines:

1. The office building that gives off the most light and air is the best investment.
2. Second-class space costs as much to build and operate as first-class space. Therefore, build no second-class space.
3. Public entrances are to make a lasting impression. Entrance, first store lobby, elevator cabs, public corridors and toilets must be very good.
4. Office space should be about 24’ from good light.
5. Operating expenses must me constantly born in mind. Use proper materials and details to simplify the work.
6. Carefully consider and provide for changes in location of corridor doors, partitions, light, plumbing and telephones.
7. Arrange typical layout for intensive use. A large number of small tenants is preferable to large space for large tenants.
8. Upkeep of an office building is most important.

The unwritten rule

The degree of Aldis’ success as a speculative investor lay only partially in the practicality of his approach to design. Ultimately it was his talent to come up with the perfect sales pitch that ensured the construction of a project. In the case of the Marquette building the marketing strategy focused on the cohesive artistic program that was assigned to the main lobby. The panoramic Tiffany glass mosaic on the perimeter of the second-story balcony, and the bronze reliefs at major entry points in the building described the exploration of the Chicago region by Jolliet and Father Marquette, a Jesuit missionary. Beyond satisfying Aldis’ personal obsession with Marquette (he had finished translating the priest’s journal in 1892), the association with the pioneer figure was motivated by the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, and the nationwide ‘discovery’ of the history of the United States, instigated at the Philadelphia Centennial of 1876. The lobby — decorated with themes of discovery, trade, and the transformation of Illinois wilderness into the wealth-producing Chicago — gave off a romantic atmosphere and guaranteed the appeal of the building.

A conflict of interest

The history described by the art was filtered through a nationalistic lens, leaving out any details of the prior claim to land by the Native Americans, as well as the violence that as a rule followed expeditions like Marquette’s. Advertising the virtues of enterprising frontiersmen, it tapped into the mentality of a city that would soon become home to some of the country’s biggest corporations.

The whole city block housing the Marquette building and Burnham’s Commercial National Bank was slated for demolition in the 70’s, with the intent of developing modern high-rise office towers in place of the decaying structures. It was precisely the ‘false history’ related in the art that came in conflict with market interests and prompted the formation of the ‘Citizen’s Committee to save the Marquette’. Public initiative prevailed, and the buildings were granted landmark status, ensuing changes of ownership and a series of projects to modernize and restore the Marquette.

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