Marshall Field and Company Building

"The 13-story granite building on State Street was constructed in stages between 1902 and 1906. Daniel H. Burnham, (1846–1912) designed the two primary sections along State Street. For a time, the building was the largest store in the world at 73 acres of floorspace, with the largest book, china, shoe, and toy departments of all the world's department stores. The current building has a Tiffany mosaic vaulted ceiling in the southwest corner, and a newer atrium with a fountain in the center. Crafted by a group of 50 artisans over 18 months, the Tiffany ceiling is over 6,000 square feet and made up of 1.6 million pieces of iridescent glass.It is the first iridescent glass dome and it continues to be the largest glass mosaic of its kind. Only Egypt's 3,000-year-old Temple of Karnak, with its 70-foot columns rivals the four 50-foot Ionic-style capped granite columns on the State Street façade. The building is known for its two exterior clocks, which weigh about 7.5 short tons each, The southwest clock known as "The Great Clock", was installed on November 26, 1897. Marshall Field envisioned the clock as a beacon for his store which he viewed as a meeting place. The clock become a popular meeting place and people began leaving notes for one another on Marshall Field's windows. The clock was an attempt to end this practice and encourage punctuality."