Richard Morris Hunt : Administration Building Chicago 1893

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Richard Morris Hunt: Administration Building, Chicago, 1893

This 11 by 14 inch photogravure of the great Administration Building at the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 was taken from a set of 25 drawings of the exposition buildings. It was the main focus of the fair, and one of the masterpieces of its architect, Richard Morris Hunt (1827-1895). With its fine classical detailing and sweeping scale, this large building was integral to the "White City" concept of the fair. To this day it remains one of the most recognizable landmarks associated with the Columbian Exposition

. The Administration Building was conceived by a board of architects led by Daniel Burnham as part of the scheme for the Court of Honor, the major public space at the fair. As director of architecture and construction for the entire Columbian Exposition, Burnham was responsible for selecting designers for all the major buildings. After much debate, this group of mostly east coast practitioners decided that all the major buildings were to be cast in a pristine and highly decorative classical style based on the architecture of Antiquity. Burnham assigned the task of designing the most prominent building to arguably the most prominent man of the group, the New York architect Richard Morris Hunt.

By the time Hunt was selected to design the Administration Building, he was near the end of his distinguished career. The first American architect to attend the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Hunt had acquired the status of "dean of American architecture" (Stein 3). His reputation was supported by his large output of fine eclectic buildings such as the Breakers in Newport (1892-95) and Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina (1888-95), both estates for the wealthy Vanderbilt family. These two stylistically different buildings exhibit the quality of Hunt's architecture known as the "grand manner," where he achieved monumentality by combining different sources of classical architecture. This quality was what attracted the fair organizers, and it would be carried to its furthest expression in the Administration Building.

As the focal point of the fair, the Administration Building had an important symbolic function. Although not intended for anything related to the fair other than housing offices, the picture shows that it was much larger than necessary for administration purposes. Its great size related to its function as triumphal gateway into the fair. The large majority of visitors arrived by train at the station located directly behind the Administration Building.