Making sure the Marquette Building stood out from the crowd was a top priority for those involved. From Owen Aldis to Peter Brooks, September 22, 1894:

“This building is finished as no building ever has been in Chicago, to start with. The work so far in masonry, steel, terra cotta, etc. is flawless—or seems so. We have been guilty of two or three extravagances! Tiffany gives us [the mosaics]...It is good history—and I hope will be artistic. The grillwork on the first two stories is another—solid bronze…The third, Fuller gives us. He insists on mahogany…Hard times are awful on men dealing in such luxuries, and the result is simply amazing.”

© John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation