Monday, July 12, 2010

The Rookery: The Burnham Library









The Burnham Library..
When the Rookery was completed in 1888, Burnham & Root move their offices to the building. The office of Daniel Burnham and John Root is now the Burnham Library. The pictures above shows, Daniel Burnham and John Root in their office in the Rookery, circa 1890.

During the 1980's renovations, one important aspect of the recovery was Burnham & Roots former offices on the eleventh floor. The space has undergone many changes and suffered a great deal of abuse. The library was restored with meticulous attention to details, including the fireplace, wood panels, bookshelves and even custom-loomed rug to match the original.


World's Columbian Exposition was planned here..
This office [now library] on the 11th floor of the Rookery, is where the plans for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition took place in 1890. Burnham & Root were first named consulting architects, but Burnham resigned that position to become head of construction. When Root died suddenly in January 1891, Burnham assumed responsibility for overseeing and completing construction for some 150 buildings on more than 600 acres of land.
And it was in this room that the planning took place! The framed photos from the World's Columbian Exposition can be seen in the office..





For more on The Rookery.. click here..

5 comments:

Caroline said...

How did you manage to get into the library? I can rarely ever figure out how to even get up onto the second story. I'd love to see the library though.

Jyoti said...

Hey Caroline,
Thanks for visiting..
About getting there..
One of the things that money can buy and I can afford... It was a $10 CAF guided tour and it takes you to the library!

Caroline said...

Interesting. I took that tour and the Docent didn't take us up there. A shame.

Jyoti said...

@ Caroline - Really???
In that case I should consider myself very lucky!

Unknown said...

Many years ago, I worked for the locksmith that reeked the building after it was restored / renovated and got a personal tour by the chief engineer. It is an amazing room. So many little details that the average person would never see, that he showed me. Even the original door lock and keys are still used today. I'm glad to see pics of this beautiful historical room !!!