The design of the library center harkens back to the Western tradition of monumental civic structures, particularly the Beaux Arts libraries of the late 19th century. Occupying an entire city block, the 760,000-square-foot, 10-story building is clad with granite on the lower levels and brick above. Deeply recessed arched windows mark the stack spaces of the middle floors. A glass-roofed winter garden occupies the top floor, and a glass curtain wall graces the west façade. The structure’s huge acroteria feature owls perched at the rooftop; other ornamentation representing Midwestern agricultural themes adorns the building.
By the mid-1970s, the city’s central library had outgrown its 1897 building, designed by Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge (now the Chicago Cultural Center) on E. Washington Street. The books were boxed up and moved to a warehouse—where they remained for most of the 1980s. A 1981 design competition for a new library ended with a decision to house it instead in a historic building. Mayor Harold Washington, elected in 1983, scuttled this decision in favor of building a new library.
A second design competition was launched in 1987. The competition rules stated that the new building must open by 1991 and, to facilitate this schedule and avoid cost overruns, the design-build project delivery model must be used. The five finalists were Dirk Lohan (grandson of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe); Canadian architect Arthur Erickson; Helmut Jahn; Hammond, Beeby & Babka; and SOM. When narrowed to two, the finalists were Jahn’s very modern, glassy design and Hammond, Beeby & Babka’s Postmodern design, which took its cues from nearby historic buildings. Jahn’s design was deemed too expensive, and the commission was awarded to Hammond, Beeby & Babka. Thomas Beeby, FAIA, served as the design architect.
The library center opened on October 7, 1991. At the time of its completion, the library was the largest design-build architecture project ever undertaken. America’s Favorite Architecture, an AIA exhibition based on a public poll of the 150 best works of American architecture, ranked the building at #85.
