Jewelers01

By Ashland Thomas

Piece description from the artist

35 East Wacker Drive, or the Jewelers’ Building, is a 40-story 522 foot historic building in the Loop area of Chicago. It’s part of the Michigan-Wacker Historic District along the Chicago River and is a National and Chicago Historic Landmark. The Neo-Classical building was completed in 1927 and was designed by Joachim Giaver and Frederick Dinkelberg of Goettsch Partners, and was the tallest building outside of NYC upon its completion. Later referred to as the Pure Oil Building and North American Life Building, the tower housed parking and a car lift on the first 23 floors for the first fourteen years which facilitated safe transfers for the jewelry merchants. There was once a restaurant called the Stratosphere Lounge in the cupola under the building’s ornate dome on the top levels, which is now the showroom for architect Helmut Jahn. One of its most well-known tenants was Mercury Records (1950-1973), and the national charity Feeding America is currently based here. The building is featured heavily in Batman Begins and Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and is shown as the location of the law firm Lockhart/Gardner on The Good Wife.