Magnificent Mile Magnificent Mile The Magnificent Mile, sometimes referred to as The Mag Mile, is a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, that runs along a portion of Michigan Avenue extending from the Chicago River to Oak Street in the Near North Side community area. The district is located adjacent to downtown; it is also one block...  looking south (Red dot marks 333 North Michigan)

333 North Michigan is an art deco skyscraper located in the Loop

Chicago Loop

The Loop or Chicago Loop is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located in the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is the historic commercial center of downtown Chicago...

 community area

Community areas of Chicago

Community areas in Chicago refers to the work of the Social Science Research Committee at University of Chicago which has unofficially divided the City of Chicago into 77 community areas. These areas are well-defined and static...

 of Chicago, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Architecturally, it is noted for its dramatic upper-level setbacks that were inspired by the 1923 skyscraper zoning laws. Geographically, it is known as one of the four 1920s flanks of the Michigan Avenue Bridge

Michigan Avenue Bridge

The Michigan Avenue Bridge has a north–south orientation, spanning the main stem of the Chicago River between the Near North Side and Loop community areas of Chicago. Its northern portal lies at the foot of the Magnificent Mile, between the Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower...

 (along with the Wrigley Building

Wrigley Building

The Wrigley Building is a skyscraper located directly across Michigan Avenue from the Tribune Tower on the Magnificent Mile...

, Tribune Tower

Tribune Tower

The Tribune Tower is a neo-Gothic building located at 435 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Tribune and Tribune Company. WGN Radio also broadcasts from the building, with ground-level studios overlooking nearby Pioneer Court and Michigan Avenue. CNN's...

 and the London Guarantee Building

London Guarantee Building

The London Guarantee Building, formerly known as the Stone Container Building, is a historic building located in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. It is known as one of the four 1920s flanks of the Michigan Avenue Bridge . It stands on part of the former site of Fort Dearborn...

) that are contributing properties to the Michigan–Wacker Historic District, which is a U.S. Registered Historic District.

Additionally, it is known as the geographic beneficiary of the jog in Michigan Avenue

Michigan Avenue (Chicago)

Michigan Avenue is a major north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east south of the Chicago River and at 132 East north of the river from 12628 south to 950 north in the Chicago street address system...

, which makes it visible along the Magnificent Mile

Magnificent Mile

The Magnificent Mile, sometimes referred to as The Mag Mile, is a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, that runs along a portion of Michigan Avenue extending from the Chicago River to Oak Street in the Near North Side community area. The district is located adjacent to downtown; it is also one block...

 as the building that seems to be in the middle of the road at the foot of this stretch of road (pictured at left). The building was designed by Holabird & Roche/Holabird & Root

Holabird & Roche

The architectural firm of Holabird & Root was founded in Chicago in 1880. Over the years, the firm's designs have changed many times — from the Chicago School to Art Deco to Modern Architecture to Sustainable Architecture.-History:...

 and completed in 1928. It is 396 feet (120.7 m) tall, and has 34 storey

Storey

A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...

s.

It was designated a Chicago Landmark

Chicago Landmark

Chicago Landmark is a designation of the Mayor of Chicago and the Chicago City Council for historic buildings and other sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artistic, cultural,...

 on February 7, 1997. It is located on the short quarter mile stretch of Michigan Avenue between the Chicago Landmark

Chicago Landmark

Chicago Landmark is a designation of the Mayor of Chicago and the Chicago City Council for historic buildings and other sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artistic, cultural,...

 Historic Michigan Boulevard District

Historic Michigan Boulevard District

The Historic Michigan Boulevard District is a historic district in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States encompassing Michigan Avenue between 11th or Roosevelt Road , depending on the source, and Randolph Streets and named after the nearby Great Lake...

 and the Magnificent Mile

Magnificent Mile

The Magnificent Mile, sometimes referred to as The Mag Mile, is a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, that runs along a portion of Michigan Avenue extending from the Chicago River to Oak Street in the Near North Side community area. The district is located adjacent to downtown; it is also one block...

.

Designed by John Wellborn Root, Jr.

John Wellborn Root, Jr.

John Wellborn Root, Jr. was a significant U.S. architect based in Chicago. He was the son of architect John Wellborn Root. As a young man, he graduated from Cornell University and studied architecture at Paris' Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where he became friends with John Augur Holabird, the son of...

, the building's long and narrow footprint and towering structure are a tribute to Root's father, John Wellborn Root

John Wellborn Root

John Wellborn Root was an American architect who worked out of Chicago with Daniel Burnham. He was one of the founders of the Chicago School style...

's earlier Chicago Monadnock Building

Monadnock Building

The Monadnock Building , is a skyscraper located at 53 West Jackson Boulevard in the south Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. The north half of the building was designed by the firm of Burnham & Root and built in 1891...

, Louis Sullivan

Louis Sullivan

Louis Henri Sullivan was an American architect, and has been called the "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism" He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an...

's tall-building canon and Eliel Saarinen

Eliel Saarinen

Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen was a Finnish architect who became famous for his art nouveau buildings in the early years of the 20th century....

 second-prize entry in the Tribune Tower

Tribune Tower

The Tribune Tower is a neo-Gothic building located at 435 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Tribune and Tribune Company. WGN Radio also broadcasts from the building, with ground-level studios overlooking nearby Pioneer Court and Michigan Avenue. CNN's...

 design contest. The building was such a success that Holabird and Root took commercial residence there. The building's long and slender design optimized use of natural lighting. The building's interior represents Prohibition

Prohibition in the United States

Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...

 era modernism

Modernism

Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...

, especially its art deco

Art Deco

Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

 Tavern club.

The building is embellished by a polished marble base, ornamental bands, and reliefs depicting frontiersmen and Native Americans at Fort Dearborn

Fort Dearborn

Fort Dearborn was a United States fort built in 1803 beside the Chicago River in what is now Chicago, Illinois. It was constructed by troops under Captain John Whistler and named in honor of Henry Dearborn, then United States Secretary of War. The original fort was destroyed following the Battle of...

, which partially occupied the site.