Know about the Art Deco style and its influence on the architectural design of the Chicago Board of Trade Building

NARRATOR: At the end of World War I, America became increasingly standardized. Monotonous assembly lines and harsh working conditions caused Americans to shift their attention towards leisure time activities. A culture of consumerism emerged, and Americans indulged in new technology such as automobiles, movies, and radio to fill their leisure time and their homes. These technologies helped connect people throughout the nation and spread mass crazes including the Charleston, flapper dresses, and jazz.

The spirit of the Roaring '20s was reflected in its decorative style-- Art Deco. The style's most popular motifs included abstract shapes as well as images of new transportation and technology. Ornamenting everything from the lavish lobbies of soaring skyscrapers to the smooth surfaces of simple household items, Art Deco celebrated modern life in the machine age. Art Deco also represented a sense of excitement for the future. In Chicago a newly designed Board of Trade Building embodied the city's rising growth and prosperity.

Architects Holabird & Root envisioned a structure "essentially modern in character, majestic and its dignity in size, and dominant in its unchanging beauty in the financial district." The building's monumental appearance was achieved with exterior setbacks and vertical lines to emphasize the building's soaring height. The building setbacks were a result of volume restrictions established in 1923. These restrictions governed the building's height, footprint, and mass, creating an entirely new architectural form in the pre-Great Depression period-- the tier-shaped the building.

The contrast of the building's simple silhouette to the more classically ornate surrounding buildings makes the Chicago Board of Trade a landmark at the foot of LaSalle Street and stands as a testament to the era's fixation with power and capitalism.