Auditorium Building Skylight

• Opalescent glass
• No painting
• Single Layer

Architects Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler designed Chicago’s Auditorium Building, a feat of engineering and design. It was completed in 1889 at which time it was the tallest, largest, and heaviest building in the city. An early mixed-use structure, the building incorporated the still existing theater, a hotel, and business offices. The immense structure has a Romanesque façade and an organic ornamental interior design. Civic leaders conceived it as a place where fine arts would be accessible to all citizens of Chicago regardless of income level.

This geometric and floral leaded glass skylight was one of four installed in the ceiling of the building’s tenth floor dining room. The four panels that comprised each skylight are decorated with stylized flowers and repeating ring designs. Sullivan used repetition of streamlined patterns to give the large building a unified look.

The building fell into disuse starting in 1929. During World War II, portions of the building were used by the United Service Organization. In 1946, Roosevelt University bought the structure and began converting the hotel and office spaces into classrooms and school offices. The magnificent theater was renovated in 1967, and it is still in operation today.

Before becoming part of this collection, the skylight belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Gutnayer. In the 1970s, architect J. Marion Gutnayer helped Roosevelt University convert parts of the building. He and his wife likely acquired the skylight at that time.