The Franklin Building is a 14-story brick building on Printer's Row in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, located at 720 South Dearborn Street. It is one of the historic buildings in the City of Chicago Printing House Row landmark district."Printing House Row District"
City of Chicago Landmark website The building was designed by

George C. Nimmons George Croll Nimmons (June 8, 1865 – June 17, 1947) was an American architect. Nimmons was best known for his commercial work, which was primarily for Sears, Roebuck and Company, but he also designed several houses, including a Kenwood ma ...

for the Franklin Printing Company and built in 1916 following on the company's previous building at 523 Dearborn, which was constructed in 1886. The current building is an example of Chicago School architecture. Oskar Gross, a painter from

Vienna, Austria Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, did a mural over the main entrance and painted tiles for the building"Bldg History"
The Franklin Building website depicting an artist, engraver, typesetter, bookbinder, and other artisans involved in the printing process. The decentralization of the printing process led to many buildings in the area, including the Franklin Building, being abandoned from their original uses. The building housed presses until 1983 and was converted into 65

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...

loft apartments in 1989. It was the last major building on Printer's Row to be converted.

Architecture

The building is topped by a parapet with unusual

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s accommodating large skylights, and has

polychrome Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery, or sculpture in multiple colors. When looking at artworks and ...

terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

tiles adorning it on its east façade, including the inscription: "The excellence of every art must consist in the complete accomplishment of its purpose." Gross' mural over the entry is entitled "The First Impression" and depicts men working on a

Gutenberg press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the c ...

, printing the first edition of the

Gutenberg Bible The Gutenberg Bible, also known as the 42-line Bible, the Mazarin Bible or the B42, was the earliest major book printed in Europe using mass-produced metal movable type. It marked the start of the "Printing Revolution, Gutenberg Revolution" an ...

. Other tiles illustrate other aspects of the printing industry. The top three floors were originally a loft space with a glass ceiling (skylight). The autumn leaf tile was made by the Wheatley Pottery Company of Cincinnati.

Gallery

File:Franklin Building, Chicago, IL, USA, inscription over entrance.jpg, Inscription over entry doors File:Franklin Building, Chicago, IL, USA, roofline gable.jpg, Roofline gable File:Franklin Building, Chicago, IL, USA, mural over entrance.jpg, Mural over entrance: "The First Impression" by Oskar Gross (a depiction of the first edition of the

)

References

External links

*{{Commons category-inline, Franklin Building 720 South Dearborn Street (Chicago) Chicago school architecture in Illinois Buildings and structures completed in 1916 1916 establishments in Illinois