I so envy you having the experience of being inside this grand and majestic building!

@@andreasmorgen7575 That building made a real impression on me.for it to be in my mind for about 60 years. I was seated at a massive wooden table to do the paperwork and take the exam. That table was what you imagine to see in in the most beautiful dining halls in the greatest palaces of Europe. Please search KZfaq videos about the Rialto Square Theater in Joliet, IL. This is another one of my favorite buildings near where I live. It is a 96 year old movie palace type theater that has been restored and is still being used today.

Two key words; strength and majesty. Traits lacking in modern civic and institutional architecture.

In 1963, I took my exam there, too. The address was, I believe, 219 S. Clark St. @ 826 US Courthouse. You are right. The building was massive. I loved looking down from the dome.

@@jeromewysocki8809 You gentleman were lucky to have had experienced something we and the rest of those who truly love Chicago were robbed of. Mies' frigid, monolithic slabs, which can easily pass for an office/residential/hospital building, can never properly fill the role of a federal courthouse.

More like cover ups

It is truly a disgrace. The channel "Kings and Things" also has a great video on this topic titled, "America's Lost Neoclassical Architecture." The video talks about Penn Station and the Federal Building

The "new" one-story Penn Station entryway is like arriving in Hell.

True, but if it was your taxes raised to keep up with the horrible maintenance costs, most people vote to demolish and build new.

@@ksavage681 It depends on the construction. Sections of the ancient Roman Appian Way are still in use. And then there is the issue of horrible maintenance costs versus horrible new construction. Perhaps we are entering a depressed "Pastoral Age" where we build little hovels inside of old temples and sports stadiums.

I found that same phenomenon over here in England, Liverpool for example Anglican cathedral by Giles-Scott who was responsible for many other buildings both in Liverpool and London, incidentally he also designed some of our finest old Football stadia, I believe only Everton is remaining but also Spurs and Glasgow Rangers previous stadiums. Fascinating to finally look upwards as I get older and take the time to wonder at my world 🤔😘 Best wishes 🙏

You really all think that these people were responsible for so many of these majestic buildings on their own in each country? Each of them is a singular work of art, taking years to complete given all the interior and exterior ornate work. The stories behind these buildings are mostly bs, like the ones in Paris that were in their 20s and designed dozens of palaces 😂 The man who designed versailles was apparently not even an architect but a buddy of the king and he casually just threw it together 😂😂 the stories go the same way if you look into each place like San francisco and new york etc

Good eye. I didn't notice that. It just goes to show you how beautiful even the floor was.

I know right. I thought I was "tripping" to see that stairway...on the ceiling.

Also in Germany because half of their buildings got destroyed in World War 2.

Yes it's so sad, here in England we Grade our older buildings from 1/3 and fortunately this does stop any destruction, hell even dilapidated farm buildings have been saved because they house nesting barn owls 🦉 in their smashed up rafters 😊🙏

They've done that all over. Erase history and make more money

IMO it started back in the 50s and 60s with this destruction of beautiful and very usable buildings being demolished and a miserable “modern” building built in its place!

It was deliberately done by communists / bankers. It's been known since Rome that beautiful architecture inspires the population. Brutish "modern" architecture is not inspiring. Intentional. Research and you can find WHO is behind it.

Well, it started to decline a lot faster than 100 years so it failed in its vision.

And they're ugly!

@@653j521 Or, More likely the government neglected it.

That’s bs that’s what they want you to think. 😂 go take a look at the science and industry museum that building will last forever. They been burying and destroying tartarian architecture all over the world stay woke.

You people need to travel around more if you can. These buildings are literal mountains of stone and can last 1000 years no problem. They did not decline easily, they are very similar to St Peters basilica in robustness and that's 600 years old roughly. The philly city hall is just like this, clearly they are far older than we are being told. Why is a post office being made into a Palace? What is the purpose of such a difficult project and the decoration can't even be attempted nowadays. These buildings do not collapse, they endure forever more or less

Chicago

@@salty6pence672 I use to live on LSD

@@ITSHISTORY I live on the south side now. I used to live in Hyde Park. My Mom worked at Rockefeller Chapel & used to give tours of the Robie house. It sparked my love of architecture.

Yep, use the blueline Federal Plaza Stop on Jackson Station. The old building belongs in Springfield or Rockford. Doesn't match with the Chicago skyline and Mlie's design is far better when looking outside from the inside (government workers). The Plaza is more designed for people to gather and protest safety. Beside too many federal courts are neoclassical. Glad that it's more government as a business design and Post Office is a logistics front lobby to a very complex distribution system underground.

I used to live on North Halsted south of Diversey, a few doors north of Kingston Mines. Sweet Home Chicago.

It is a Mies Van Der Rohe Masterpiece. You may see 50 drab buildings that look familiar to these 3 but the thing is they created this trend. they’re like a black chanel dress, timeless, perfect. they have beautiful lobbies all leading out to the calder statues. the Interiors are well thought out with high quality materials making them luxurious and practical, and quite frankly they changed american architecture forever

MANY Americans love history. Unfortunately, those with money and power do not.

@@jessemurray1757 Some do and some don't. Have you done enough research to make that blanket statement?

Renovation of an overly small and outmoded building in a key spot is hugely expensive in every way. I'm sure if you were a worker there you wouldn't romanticize it.

@K Kr he did say many not all...

…is the worst ever?

Well its not as beautiful as the previous building.

Exactly, and this is reason we will never have a building like that again in Chicago.

@@ITSHISTORY We will never have anything again. Technology, needs, priorities, ecological awareness, everything changes. You can bemoan that immutable fact or you can appreciate the best of all eras.

Great comment:)

This building was demolished in 1965 back when these types of listings were very rare. Nowadays, we have a lot more in the way of historical preservation but this was the 1960s.

It's because it doesn't fit into conventional history... so it HAD to be destroyed. There are a LOT of such architectural mis-fits around the world, but most people don't see them as such because it isn't taught in university or in the academic textbooks. Some call it "Tartarian" architecture but that's a red-herring misnomer term, the term I think is best for them is "worldwide consistent architecture", and these buildings tell a fascinating story that you won't hear in the mainstream (or even on this channel). Another term to look up and study is "starforts" which again is a generic term that is probably not the correct word for them, but it is the best search term to discover yet another fascinating angle to our past human history that has largely been covered up and never really discussed in depth. Almost ALL the major european cities were once "starfort" constuction on a massive scale, the ancient maps show their former glory, most of it now de-constructed and hence erased from conventional history...

@@asb3pe Yes here in America our forts were starforts near waterways

The US only passed a historic preservation bill in 1966. And even then it has taken an enormous amount of public input/protest to keep historic buildings from being demolished.

Have you considered the cost of repairing and updating a structure that is no longer large enough for a necessary job in that central spot? Clearly the bomber wasn't as enamored of it as people are in retrospect. What could have been done for the poor with the money for that dome and embellishments?

There are buildings in Europe 900 years old still in daily use, age is not a problem NEGLECT and changing "styles" are the problem

Mies' Federal Plaza has also had refurbishments as well. No matter. His buildings, whether in Chicago, New York or Toronto, all resemble each other save some sleight details. While I can certainly appreciate and understand what he was trying to acheive, his buildings do not relate to the city on a pedestrian, street level. Nor do they create memorable skylines. Cities which have a minimal representation of Miesien works, should be relieved that their urban fabric was spared.

Mies= ugly Boxes

No, I don't respect him.

When you realise how many countries have these basically identical buildings and how many were demolished, it really makes you wonder wtf ws going on back then. We have so many left but have lost even more. If they all still stood, the world would look oddly uniform

So I wasn't the only one that noticed it.

@@FernandoTRA right right? :)

@@anrn5303 yes

I can't not hear it.

@@bengilbreath listen closely, attentively :)

I agree. Mies is iconic from a different era.

Bingo. The current post office and it’s plaza are fantastic.

Here, here!

van der Rohe's is nothing more than a sleep inducing glass and steel building that stands out in no way from thousands of other ugly modernist buildings constructed since the 1950s. What would make this stand out from the thousands of others? I wouldn't walk a block to see this thing.

@Kyle Fullenkamp Funny. Miesien architecture IS reductive.

Now that winter's here, you can take your cold takes home.

Yes, and modern schools, churches, banks, all look like office buildings. Yawn!

Read this classic upon first moving to Chicago. I was astonished at just how many masterpieces were given the heave ho for even the flimsiest excuses. The grief only becomes more acute when one really delves into the subject and comes across examples of the first Chicago School, which were wantonly done away with. The Loop itself, would be more lively and far more interesting had they kept so many of these beautiful structures. The Loop has lost so much of its vitality.

Sure thing. Concrete and glass trash is way more impressive than a building that could literally never be replicated for the rest of time. No wonder they were torn down when tasteless eyes look at them as "cool" 🙄 The narrative of structural problems is fcking hilarious. A building so heavy and vast would not stand for decades then suddenly have major issues, they would be apparent immediately due to the colossal weight having to be handled by the foundations.

Mies= ugly box

Sorry your ghetto

I love Chicago but I detest violence and crime. Including the Court System that keeps letting criminals out on electronic monitoring.

Precisely!!!

Thank you Mike, honestly I also find these stories to be extremely depressing - its hard to find another country that tears down its own greatest architectural achievements - you have to wonder about the impact on society.

I so agree I am not a fan at all of modern architecture....that which uses glass and steel boxes with no attention to details and ornamentation.

I find it more interesting than depressing, but sure it is depressing too -- to it's underlaying core. However, I prefer to look at these old lost gems with wonder and awe and try to support architectural preservation today, rather than getting depressed.

After 1955........!!.......no great building was safe.

Thank you, came here looking for this. If you are going to bash Van der Rohe you better at least mention his name in the video. With so many imitators I understand why some people like this guy don’t get it. But I’ll never forget, as a native Chicagoan, whose old man worked in the federal building for 30 years, the unbelievable majesty and precision and power I felt in the plaza as I saw all the lines in the skyscraper matching the lines in the massive concrete I was standing on. Van der Rohe changed the game forever and pushed us into the next era. Cobb made a nice swan song to the last era at best, one among many.

THANK YOU SO MUCH

Peace!

Your loss .

Built in place?

As you can see in the video the dome was not lifted and dropped down. It was built in stages.

Surprising isn’t it?

Dyslexia

When tour guides lead groups to explore Chicago's Loop, the Federal Plaza, is not given much time, and for good reason. The spare linear series of boxes, while dignified, simply give the appearance of being an office complex situated on a barren plaza. One would hardly be blamed for not thinking that they contain courtooms and other governmental functions. The point is that Chicago's record at preserving one of the aspects its world known for, has been a mixed bag to a poor one at best. If the city had taken its architectural legacy and standing on a more serious level early on, they would have taken pains to save the noble and imposing old Federal Building and placed the Federal Plaza at an alternative location. Then again, the reality of Chicago circa the 1960s was that most people during that time harbored minimal interest in buildings of historic value. Mayor Daley had little love for historic preservation. In fact he was all for doing away with anything that recalled Chicago's sordid past. Al Capone, Chicago's most notorious gangster, was put on trial in the Federal Building. Knowing that the "Boss," disliked any references to Capone, would have been reason enough in his eyes to get rid of the Federal Building. Nevertheless, had the building survived, it would have been put into other uses, and with a good scrub down, plus strategic lighting on its facade and commanding dome, it would have been an imposing and luminous sight at night, as opposed to the dark, urban tundra that spurns visitors now.

Um simple research shows that it actually was 4 feet bigger in diameter than the capitol buildings dome...Lol

Gah. Attempting to tie a fictional Central Asian Empire in with Beaux Arts and Neoclassical styles...

I would have never noticed if it was not for the comments