History of The Carbide & Carbon Building | Hard Rock Hotel Chicago, Illinois

Completed in 1929, the Carbide & Carbon Building may be considered a typical Art Deco Chicago skyscraper, it is not. What makes the Carbide & Carbon Building so unique are the colors that cover its façade. Most of Chicago’s Art Deco architecture is clad in light gray Bedford limestone. The Carbide & Carbon Building, however, is composed of a polished black granite base and a tower covered in deep green terra cotta, making it a one-of-a-kind landmark on the Michigan Avenue skyline.

Boasting 40 floors and standing over 150 meters (over 500 feet) tall, the building is the product of Daniel and Hubert Burnham, the sons of famed Chicago architect and city planner Daniel H. Burnham. Popular legend connects the design of the building to a champagne bottle, with the terra cotta exterior corresponding to the green glass bottle and the golden tower alluding to the shiny foil top. It is no surprise; therefore, that Hard Rock Hotel Chicago has found its home in the Carbide & Carbon Building, with its celebratory origins.

At the time of its construction, the building was intended to house offices of the subsidiaries of the Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation. The ground floor was designed to display the array of products derived from the businesses located on the floors above. Also at ground level, Art Deco bronze details accent the black granite and continue into the historic elevator lobby.

On May 9, 1996, the Carbide & Carbon Building was named a Chicago Landmark. Upon becoming the home of the Hard Rock Hotel in 2004, the building underwent an additional, lengthy project to fully restore the building to its original grandeur. On November 16, 2007, the City of Chicago officially recognized the building’s contribution to the rich architectural legacy of the city skyline by permanently illuminating its golden tower. As one of only a handful of Chicago skyscrapers to receive this illumination distinction, the Carbide & Carbon Building shines bright through the night, reminding city residents, hotel guests, and passers by of architecture’s ability to create an evolving and enduring sense of time and place.