Financial institutions everywhere in the US resemble Greek temples. This is true in small towns as well as large cities. Chicago is home to some truly outstanding examples. Most notably, at the epicenter of Chicago’s finanical district two buildings directly face each other. Between Jackson and Quincy on the west side of South LaSalle stands the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago with its six Corinthian columns nearly mirrored by the Continental Bank of Illinois Building with its six Ionic columns across the street. Both have dramatic pediments filled not with allegorical sculptural groups but rather symbols of strength and power–a seal or eagle. Completed only two years apart under the direction of the same architectural firm (Bolt, Graham, Anderson, Probst and White) both of these landmark buildings also have impressive interiors that feature more rows of columns.
South LaSalle Street facing Jackson Street
Continental Bank of Illinois Building, 231 South LaSalle Street (1924)
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 230 South LaSalle Street (1922)
In 1930 The Chicago Board of Trade opened at 141 West Jackson–almost perpendicular to the pair of neoclassical temples of finance. The Board of Trade’s Art Deco building decidedly did not reproduce the look of a Greek temple. It towered over its neighbors. Nevertheless, it an ancient model made its way into the design. Ceres, the Roman goddess of agricultural commodities, caps the very top of what was then the tallest building in Chicago. The soaring Art Deco Ceres by sculptor John Storrs asserted the commercial identity and aspirations to international prominence of the business elite of this fast growing American city.
Ceres atop the Chicago Board of Trade
Chicago Board of Trade
Read more about the Chicago Board of Trade Building.
Read more about the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Building.