Ii sat alone in the midst of a sea of iniid. Tliere were 

 no sidewalks or streets leading to it, only a few crude roads 

 and footpaths crossing the newly-made land. A reporter 

 for the Architectural Record poetically wrote that the Museum 

 was "isolated on a dirt flat, from which its Georgian marble 

 mass gleams like a white growth in black loam." 



This ''Georgian marble mass" was closely patterned on 

 the Erechtheiiim, one of the temples of the Acropolis in 

 Athens which are generally recognized as the finest ex- 

 amples of the Ionic order. Contrary to the old temple 

 form, however, the great area and especially the long ridge 

 and attic lines tend to create an almost squat appearance. 



credit to a stevedore. Yet, in spite of this — or perhaps be- 

 cause of it — they bear an unquestionable dignity. 



Above each caryatid porch there is a horizontal relief 

 panel which represents one of the four divisions of the Mu- 

 seum — Anthropology, Botany, Geology and Zoology. These 

 panels are quite decorative, displaying an abundance of 

 floating ribbon, flowing draperies and feathery wings. 



The four figures flanking the arches of Stanley Field Hall 

 complete Hering's work. These figures are intended to be 

 symbolic of the use and inspiration of the Museum : Science, 

 Dissemination of Knowledge, Research and Record. 



Hering designed eight more figures — Fire, Earth, Air 



The most famous view of Field Museum 

 is looking south from Lake Shore Drive 

 at the North Door. Here is the North 

 Door under construction, May, 1918. 

 The supports under the columns give 

 an idea of how deep the fill is around 

 the Museum. Today, visitors climb 38 

 steps to reach the columns and the North 

 Entrance. 



Height restrictions laid down for structures in the lakefront 

 area account in great measure for the architect's faihne to 

 adhere to the Ionic form throughout. 



In addition to his passion for Greek and Roman archi- 

 tecture, Daniel Burnham had a passion for cleanliness. His 

 biographer, Charles Moore, relates, "To Mr. Burnham 

 cleanliness seemed not next to godliness, but on a par with 

 it. Hence his use of white marble and glass in corridors. 

 He planned so that every spot should show, and hence the 

 building must be kept clean." The Museum's maintenance 

 staflfcan testify to the great eff"ectiveness of Burnham's plan- 

 ning in this area. 



Henry Hering created the sculpture that embellishes the 

 Museum inside and out. There are eight caryatids on the 

 exterior of the building and, while at first glance they may 

 seem to be identical, there are actually two types. These 

 types are very similar in mass and movement, but vary in 

 such details as hairstyle, neckline and drapery folds. The 

 caryatids are ail alike, however, in that their feet are huge, 

 their hips more than generous and their shoulders would do 



and Water; North, South, East and West — to be set across 

 the attic (the area immediately above the columned doors), 

 but these figures were never executed in marble and the 

 attic remains devoid of statuary. 



All in all, the Museum building took over five years and 

 more than $7,000,000 to build. A representative of Thonip- 

 son-Starrett, the construction engineers that built it, esti- 

 mates that to duplicate this building today would take at 

 least three years and $24,000,000, assuming all equipment 

 and material was readily available. However, as Mr. Wil- 

 liam Dring of Harry M. Weese and Associates pointed out, 

 it is inconceivable that anyone would contemplate erecting 

 an identical building today. One could be built which to 

 outward appearances would look much the same, but struc- 

 turally it would be very different from the Museum building. 



Resting comfortably on its 30 feet of fill, the Museum 

 building is a reminder, then, of the rising cost of living and 

 Chicago real estate values, changing technology, a fantastic 

 lakefront fair and an architect's dream, as well as a mag- 

 nificent Chicago landmark. 



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