LaSalle Towers Apartments facts for kids
.JPG)
The LaSalle Towers Apartments is a tall apartment building in the Near North Side area of Chicago. You can find it at 1211 North LaSalle Street, right on the corner of LaSalle and Division Street. It's a well-known building in the city!
History of LaSalle Towers
This impressive building was first built way back in 1929. When it first opened, it wasn't an apartment complex. Instead, it was used as a hotel, welcoming guests to Chicago.
In the 1960s, the building was known as the Tuscony Apartment Hotel. The apartments back then were often small. They usually had two rooms, each about 8 feet wide and 10 feet long. There was also a small bathroom. One room often had a tiny kitchen area, while the other was for living and sleeping.
A Big Renovation
The building got a major makeover in the early 1980s. A design firm called Weese, Seegers, Hickey, Weese worked on the renovation. During this time, the old hotel was changed into the apartment complex we see today.
Amazing Murals
One of the coolest things about LaSalle Towers is the amazing art on its outside walls! During the 1980s renovation, a famous artist named Richard Haas painted huge murals on three sides of the building. These paintings are a special type of art called trompe-l'œil. This French phrase means "trick the eye." The murals are so realistic, they make you think you're seeing something that isn't really there!
Art That Tricks Your Eye
On the east side of the building, the mural makes it look like there are old-fashioned Chicago School style windows and a fancy roof edge. It even has a round window painted on it.
On the south side, Haas painted scenes that remind us of two famous designs by architect Louis Sullivan. You can see a golden arch, like one from a big fair long ago. There's also a round window, similar to one Sullivan designed for a bank in Iowa. Look closely beneath the arch, and you'll see painted figures of famous architects like Sullivan, Daniel Burnham, John Wellborn Root, and Frank Lloyd Wright. They look like they are standing together! You can also spot a "reflection" of the Chicago Board of Trade Building in the painted windows.
On the north side, there are more painted windows. These show a fake reflection of a design by Adolf Loos for the Tribune Tower. Loos had imagined the tower looking like a giant column.
All these murals together are called Homage to the Chicago School of Architecture. They are a beautiful tribute to Chicago's rich building history.
