MILWAUKEE ARCHITECTURE 1 DOWNTOWN BUILDINGS

The Milwaukee City Hall is a National Historic Landmark and an excellent example of classic Flemish Renaissance architecture. Upon its completion in 1895, City Hall was the second tallest building in America, exceeded only by the Philadelphia City Hall. Inside, an expansive atrium of 20 by 70 feet rises up eight stories. The bell tower stands 353 feet, inhabited by a 22,500 pound bell named Solomon Juneau, after Milwaukee’s first mayor.

The 20-story former Wisconsin Gas Building is Wisconsin’s finest Art Deco skyscraper and is considered a masterpiece of form, distinctive for its cascading masses, jazzy brick patterns and terra-cotta friezes. Atop the building is a 21-foot tall plastic weather flame. This famous flame contains hundreds of feet of neon and argon filled tubes, and when lit, forecasts the weather: GOLD: Cold, RED: Warm weather ahead, BLUE: No change in view. FLICKERING FLAME: Snow or rain.

The Mackie Building, also known as the Chamber of Commerce, is a Victorian landmark built in 1879 to house what was once the world’s largest grain exchange. The Great Trading Room rises three floors and occupies 60 by 115 feet. The Italian Renaissance-style space is rich with frescoes, stained glass, columns, arches and carvings. Gargoyles guard each corner of the bell tower atop the building.

The Mitchell Building is one of the country’s finest examples of French Second Empire architecture, a style based upon Parisian buildings designed during the reign of Napoleon. It was built in 1876 by Alexander Mitchell, a banker, and railroad and lumber businessman, who also built the Mackie Building.

The Iron Block Building was built in 1861 and is a landmark of special architectural significance. It belongs to a vanishing breed of American structures with facades entirely composed of cast iron. Much of both street elevations are made of cast iron modules that are bolted together. The units were cast in New York and shipped to Milwaukee.

WEST WISCONSIN AVENUE The Milwaukee Public Library opened its doors to the public on October 3, 1898. This imposing structure is a combination of French and Italian Renaissance styles built of Bedford limestone. The hand-carved, limestone staircase was the focus of the $8.3 million restoration in recent years and is a work of art according to those who worked on the project. The library is a must see in exploring Wisconsin library history.

Formerly the mansion of Alexander Mitchell, The Wisconsin Club was constructed in 1848. Artists from Europe were commissioned to adorn the interior of Mitchell’s home with elaborate, hand-carved mahogany woodwork, stained glass, plaster and inlaid tile. The Grand Staircase in the East Hall of the house includes 24 lions heads that took one craftsman seven years to build. The Oriental Room (South Lounge) features more than 1,600 hand-carved pansies on its ceiling. Famous and noteworthy guests include Julia Ward Howe, Grand Duke Alexis of Russia, Prince Henry of Prussia, General Grant and Presidents Cleveland and Roosevelt.

www.VisitMilwaukee.org | Visit Milwaukee | @VisitMilwaukee MILWAUKEE ARCHITECTURE 2 ATTRACTIONS A stunning interpretation of Italian Renaissance architecture, the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum features fine and decorative arts dating from the 15th to the 18th centuries. The building is magnificent, from the intricate, wrought-iron entrance gates designed by master artisan Cyril Colnik, to the exterior façade’s whitewashed brick – quarried and carved in Italy. The Villa’s 16th century-style Italian Garden sweeps majestically down to Lake Michigan and includes a dramatic “water stairway.” Architect David Adler designed the home in 1923 for Lloyd Smith of the A.O. Smith Corporation.

The Charles Allis Art Museum, an elegant, 1911 Tudor-style mansion, was designed by noted Milwaukee architect Alexander Eschweiler as a residence for the first president of the Allis-Chalmers Company. This architectural gem remains intact with original furnishings and an impressive art collection spanning 2,000 years. Highlights include Renaissance bronzes, 19th-century French and American paintings, and Chinese and Japanese porcelains. The museum also holds changing exhibits featuring the work of Wisconsin artists.

The North Point Lighthouse is an architectural and historic treasure, located in one of Milwaukee’s oldest public parks. First established in 1855, North Point sits on a high bluff in Lake Park , designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. It remained operational until its deactivation in 1994. It stands 74 feet high and its keeper’s quarters and lighthouse are open for touring.

Extraordinary stage talents Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt were undeniably the most revered acting team in American theater history. Their beloved retreat, Ten Chimneys, remains virtually unchanged since they first applied their enchantingly personal décor and assembled its historic furnishings and diverse collections. The 60-acre estate is nestled in the rolling Kettle Moraine of southeast Wisconsin approximately ½ hour from Milwaukee.

The Pabst Theater was built in the tradition of the grand European opera houses in 1895 by brewing magnate Captain Frederick Pabst. The Pabst played an important role in the German American culture of early 20th century Milwaukee, when the city was called "Deutsch Athen" (German Athens). A large, 2-ton Austrian crystal chandelier hangs over the auditorium. The theater also boasts a staircase crafted from white Italian Carrara marble and a proscenium arch highlighted in gold leaf that frames the stage. One of the oldest continuously-operating-theaters in the U.S., the Pabst hosts approximately 100 events per year, including music, comedy, dance, opera, and theater events.

The Captain Frederick Pabst Mansion represents the epitome of America’s Gilded Age splendor. Completed in 1892, this Flemish Renaissance Revival jewel is a testament to the hard-earned success of Milwaukee’s original beer baron. This national treasure has been lovingly restored to its original grandeur and features fine period furniture and architectural details.

Just west of downtown on West Burnham Street, six of the known 13 Frank Lloyd Wright American System -Built Homes are found in his native state. The homes were completed in 1916 as architect-designed living for moderate and low income families, a special interest of Wright’s. Tours are available by reservation. The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Wauwatosa was also designed by Wright, completed in 1962. It is one of Wright’s last works and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

www.VisitMilwaukee.org | Visit Milwaukee | @VisitMilwaukee MILWAUKEE ARCHITECTURE 3 RELIGIOUS The shining, copper-plated dome of the Basilica of St. Josaphat has stood guard over the city for more than a century. Created from materials from the razed Federal Building in Chicago and patterned after St. Peter’s in Rome, the Basilica was formerly dedicated in 1901. Interior highlights include: stained glass windows imported from the Tyrolean Artists’ Guild in Austria, detailed oil paintings of biblical scenes adorning the walls and inner dome and ornamental plasterwork finished in gold leaf.

Believed to be the only medieval structure in the Western Hemisphere dedicated to its original purpose, the St. Joan of Arc Chapel, stood for more than 500 years as part of a French estate in the Rhone River Valley. Preservationists moved the chapel to the U.S. stone-by-stone in the 1920s and to the Marquette University campus in the 1960s. Legend has it that Joan of Arc prayed before the early Gothic altar and kissed the stone where she stood as she finished, and that stone has forever remained colder than those that surround it.

Gesu Church , Completed in 1894, is a Milwaukee landmark with its twin Gothic spires and exquisite stained glass windows. The spiritual center of the Marquette University campus, Gesu Church is a Milwaukee Archdiocese parish administered by the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic order commonly known as the Jesuits.

The saucer -shaped Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church designed for the Greek orthodox congregation in the suburbs of Milwaukee was one of Frank Lloyd Wright's last commissions and was completed after his dea th in 1961. It is a modern interpretation of traditional Byzantine forms. A shallow dome with a light-blue resin coating is supported by four concrete piers that form a Greek cross in plan. The dome is 106 feet in diameter and rises 45 feet above ground. Its richly ornamented, circular interior seats nearly 1,000 worshipers on two levels.

One of the most admired pieces of architecture in the city, the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist has been the Mother Church of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for over 150 years. Using Milwaukee brick, this beautiful church was constructed in 1847 in an austere German-style known as Zopfstil, and includes a gated courtyard and prayer garden. Self-guided tours are available.

Built from red Lake Superior sandstone in 1838, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is an example of Richardsonian Romanesque ecclesiastical architecture. While many churches in Milwaukee have stunning stained glass windows, St. Paul’s is home to the largest collection of Tiffany windows in the state.

The venerated Wisconsin landmark just northwest of Milwaukee, the Basilica of Holy Hill – National Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians, is known to locals and 500,000 visitors a year as “Holy Hill.” The hill on which it stands is part of the Kettle Moraine, rising 1,350 feet above sea level, one of the highest elevations in southeastern Wisconsin. The red brick neo-Romanesque church, with its twin spires, rises an additional 192 feet. It was designed by Chicago architect Herman Gaul.

The city’s oldest church still in continuous use, Old St. Mary’s was built in 1847 by Victor Schulte for the Roman Catholic community. King Ludwig of Bavaria donated the painting of the Annunciation hanging above the ornately carved altar. The stained glass windows, Stations of the Cross, altar and all of the carved wooden statues came from the Franz Meyer studio in Munich. (National Registry of Historic Places: 1973) April ‘13 April

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