John Eisenmann (March 26, 1851 – January 6, 1924) was an architect in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. As part of Eisenmann & Smith he designed the

Cleveland Arcade The Arcade in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, is a Victorian-era structure of two nine-story buildings, joined by a five-story arcade with a glass skylight spanning over 300 feet (91 m), along the four balconies.downtown Cleveland Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The economic and cultural center of the city and the Cleveland metropolitan area, it is Cleveland's oldest district, with its Public Square, Cleveland, Publi ...

. He also designed the Main building for

Case School of Applied Science The Case School of Engineering is the engineering school of Case Western Reserve University, a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. It traces its roots to the 1880 founding of the Case School of Applied Science. The school was endowed ...

, present-day

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

, where he was also the school's first professor of

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

. He pioneered structural steel construction in the United States and is credited with co-designing Cleveland's Arcade, "the first commercial building in the state designated an historic landmark in architecture." Eisenmann is also credited with designing the

flag of Ohio The Ohio Burgee is the official flag of the U.S. state of Ohio. It is a distinctive triangular Swallowtail (flag), swallowtail flag. Its red, white, and blue elements symbolize the state's natural features and order of admission into the Union. ...

in 1901.

Early life

Eisenmann was born March 26, 1851, in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, to Christian W. and Mary A. (Schubert) Eisenmann. He graduated from Monroe High School in Michigan. In 1871, he graduated from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

with a degree in

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

, and was a member of the Xi Chapter of the

Zeta Psi Zeta Psi () is an international collegiate fraternity. It was founded in 1847 at New York University. The fraternity has over 100 chapters, with roughly 50,000 members. Zeta Psi was a founding member of the North American Interfraternity Confer ...

fraternity. From 1871-1875, Eisenmann worked as an assistant engineer for the

United States Lake Survey The United States Lake Survey (USLS) was a hydrographic survey for the Great Lakes, New York Barge Canal, Lake Champlain and the Boundary Waters of the Canada–United States border between Minnesota and Ontario. The Survey's activities began on ...

for the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

. He then went to Europe to study

Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

, studying first at the Royal School of Technology of Munich,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

1875-1876, graduating from the Technical School of Stuttgart, Germany, in 1877. From 1878-1879, he returned working for the United States Lake Survey. From 1879-1882, he then worked for the

Mississippi River Commission The United States Army Corps of Engineers Mississippi Valley Division (MVD) is responsible for the Corps water resources programs within 370,000-square-miles of the Mississippi River Valley, as well as the watershed portions of the Red River ...

. On April 5, 1882, John Eisenmann married Annie M. Theising.

Arcade

The arcade was erected in 1890, at a cost of $867,000. It opened on

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...

(May 31, 1890) and is an example of

Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the st ...

, consisting of two nine-story buildings joined by a five-story

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

. It includes a glass

skylight A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes. History O ...

spanning 300 feet (91 m) along the four

balconies A balcony (from , "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. They are commonly found on multi-level houses, apartme ...

.Arcade
''Encyclopedia of Cleveland History'',

, 10 July 1997. The arcade is identified as the first indoor

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

in the United States. and was built by Detroit Bridge Co., run by Stephen V. Harkness. It is one of the few remaining arcades of its kind in the United States. Modeled after the

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (; ) is Italy's oldest active shopping arcade and a major landmark of Milan. Housed within a four-story double arcade in the centre of town, the ''Galleria'' is named after Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of ...

located in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, the Arcade comprises two nine-story towers with a

, 100 feet (30 m) high, made of 1,800 panes of glass spanning over 300 feet (91 m). The construction was financed by

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was one of the List of richest Americans in history, wealthiest Americans of all time and one of the richest people in modern hist ...

, Marcus Hanna,

Charles F. Brush Charles Francis Brush (March 17, 1849June 15, 1929) was an American engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Biography Brush was born in Euclid Township, Ohio, to Isaac Elbert Brush and Delia Williams Phillips. Isaac Brush was a d ...

and several other wealthy Clevelanders of the day. The Arcade was modified in 1939, with remodeling of the Euclid Avenue entrance and some structural supports added. The Arcade is a cross between a lighted court and a commercial shopping street, composed of three structures: two nine-story office buildings facing out to Euclid and Superior Avenues, connected via the five-story iron-and-glass-enclosed arcade. The Richardsonian arched entrance along Superior Avenue is original but the Euclid Avenue front was remodeled in 1939 by the firm of

Walker and Weeks Walker and Weeks was an architecture firm based in Cleveland, Ohio, founded by Frank Ray Walker (September 29, 1877 - July 9, 1949) and Harry E. Weeks (October 2, 1871 - December 21, 1935). Background Harry Weeks was born October 2, 1871, in W. ...

. Vertical lines of the columns rise nearly 100 feet (33 m) to the glass roof and create a spacious domed interior. In 2001, the

Hyatt Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational corporation, multinational hospitality company headquartered in the 150 North Riverside, Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchise ...

corporation redeveloped the Arcade into Cleveland's first Hyatt Regency hotel. The Hyatt Regency occupies the two towers and the top three floors of the atrium area. The two lower floors of the atrium area remain open to the public with retail merchants and a

food court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food Vendor, vendors and provides a common area for self-serve di ...

. In addition, the Hyatt's lobby and offices are located near the Superior Avenue entrance.

Projects

Cleveland Arcade The Arcade in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, is a Victorian-era structure of two nine-story buildings, joined by a five-story arcade with a glass skylight spanning over 300 feet (91 m), along the four balconies.Case School of Applied Science The Case School of Engineering is the engineering school of Case Western Reserve University, a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. It traces its roots to the 1880 founding of the Case School of Applied Science. The school was endowed ...

University Circle University Circle is a district in the neighborhood of University on the East Side of Cleveland, Ohio. It is home to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance Hall (home to the Cleveland Orchestra), the Cleveland Institute of Art, the Cleveland ...

Cinecraft Productions
(1898) (Cleveland Public Library West Side Branch - Carnegie System), 2515 Franklin Boulevard in Ohio City.Designated Cleveland landmarks
Cleveland Planning Commission City of Cleveland * Esmond Apartment Building (1898), 4806 Euclid Ave.(includes photo) City of Cleveland Planning

City of Cleveland Planning *Ohio Building at the 1901

Pan-American Exposition The Pan-American Exposition was a world's fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied of land on the western edge of what is now Delaware Park–Front Park System, Delaware Park, extending ...

References

External links

John Eisenmann
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eisenmann, John 1851 births 1924 deaths Architects from Cleveland Architects from Detroit Case Western Reserve University faculty Flag designers Structural steel University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni University of Stuttgart alumni