Mines & Mining Building
Architect: S. S. Beman, Chicago, Illinois
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Picturesque World’s Fair, An Elaborate Collection of Colored Views—Published with the Endorsement and Approval of George R. Davis, 1894
THE MINING BUILDING.—This imposing facade illustrates the massive and graceful proportions of the Mining Building. The grand central arch, one hundred feet high, and the domed pavilions at either corner are supported by heavy pilasters of granitoid blocks, suggestive of great solidity. The lofty bays, the recessed balcony with pillared support, the elaborate frieze, the architectural reliefs, the bannered flagstaffs, give the finishing touch of beauty to simple strength. The great floor space is seven hundred by three hundred and fifty feet m area including a space of five and one-half acres. The dome of Administration, in the rear, and the towers of Electricity to the left, give an exalted sky relief and indicate the relation of this to the other edifices of the Central court. At the left appears the verdure of the water-bound and wooded islands—the centerpiece of the Exposition landscape. The continuous fringe of green at the water’s edge is broken by the pedestals of the statuary in the immediate foreground. The projecting cornice above the horse is all that is visible of the Golden Door to the Transportation Building. The equestrian groups are fitting accessories of the scene. Their spirited energy and the expressive, life-like attitudes of horses and riders won the praise of eminent sculptors. The frontier and mountain life they represent is intimately associated with the development of the industry to which the great edifice in front, with its abundant wealth of mineral, ore and metal is dedicated.
INTERIOR OF THE MINING BUILDING.—There was much in the Mines and Mining Building the value of which was not apparent save to the expert, but there was a great deal there also which was glitteringly attractive, and a great deal that was curious even to the casual visitor. The display of gold and silver made from some of the States was striking, as were the exhibits of precious stones from different countries, and the great monuments of coal were as impressive in their wav as they were grateful in form. Of course a statue of solid silver modeled in the likeness of an actress and widely advertised would attract more people out of the average throng than would a specimen of perfect building stone, but, lacking in neither class of features, the Mines and Mining Building held its own pretty well, considering the great counter attractions the exposition offered. How the interior appeared to the eye shows in the accompanying illustration, a bird’s-eye view from the southwest corner of the building and extending over a large area of the exhibits. The Mexican exhibit is prominent in the immediate foreground, that country, so rich in mineral resources, making a fine showing, while, just across the broad central aisle, Montana, Utah, Idaho and California are bravely prominent. A little farther to the north, Germany, Great Britain, Michigan and Missouri occupy the four corners about the central open space on the main floor. The coal and marble monuments loom up as sentinels here and there and give variety to the scene. The earth certainly gave forth lavishly of its treasures to enrich the stores of the Mines Building.
VISTA, BETWEEN THE MINING AND ELECTRICITY BUILDINGS.—The general idea was that about the only view worth studying north from the Court of Honor was from some point on the bridges across the canals, but this idea was hardly justified by the fact. Going a little westward from the Court of Honor, standing midway between the Electricity and Mining Buildings, looking northward, one had a view perhaps as picturesque, and and certainly as novel as any presented from the different bridges in the southern part of the waterways. The illustration gives a good idea of the spectacle this view afforded. On the right, the architecture of the Electricity Building is shown on all its charming details, while to the left that of the Mines appears with equal distinctness. Straight ahead is the broad roadway leading toward the Wooded Island, peopled, as it always was in the daytime, with moving groups. The island itself shows up distinctly, the pagodas peeping up among the trees, and even the tops of the Japanese Government Buildings showing in the far distance to the north. Beyond, at the left, may be discerned a portion of the great glass dome of the Horticulture Building, and still further away, the tops of all the structures on the west side of the great thoroughfare lying parallel and close beside the western limit of the Exposition grounds, with the dome of the quaint California building as the last notable object in the distance.
Entering the building, the visitor finds a capacious hall 700 feet long and 350 feet wide, covering over five and a half acres, or 345,000 square feet. The entire expanse of roof, which is mostly glass, is so suspended as to leave the central portion clear and unobstructed, the sole support being two rows at the side of huge steel cantilever trusses. This is the first example of the successful application of the cantilever system to roofs, and may be said to mark an era in roof construction.
- Mining Building
The Book of the Fair, H. H. Bancroft, 1893
Passing from the main railway terminus, the visitor observes on his left a building of elaborate design, the purpose of which is indicated by the single word inscribed above its portal. In this, the hall of Mines and Mining, its architect, S. S. Beman, of Chicago, has departed somewhat from conventional types, displaying, without any detraction from his harmony of plan, an adaptation of structural forms to practical uses in perfect keeping with what may be termed the sentiment of his composition. Fronting on the main court opposite the great hall of Machinery; flanked on one side by its sister edifice devoted to the Electrical department; on another by the transportation pavilion, and with the graceful lines of the Administration building giving further emphasis to this imposing group, Mr Beman was thus favored with one of the choicest sites in the Exposition grounds, and to the best advantage has he improved his opportunity.
First of all it may be observed that in studying his design the artificer must prepare for the housing of a large and bulky display of ores and minerals, of mining and metallurgical machinery and appliances, many of them requiring a liberal proportion of floor room and height. Hence, in this building, and especially in its central nave, it was necessary to avoid, as far ar as possible, all columnar obstructions, leaving unencumbered the greatest available area for the reception of exhibits. Of the space at his disposal, including with galleries somewhat less than nine acres, a large portion was devoted to a nave 630 feet long, in its centre a circular court from which the main avenues radiate, and where is a design typical of mining industries. In all this spacious nave there are only sixteen pillars, eight on either side, and on which nests the system of cantilever trusses that support a lowered roof, fashioned largely of glass, and at its highest point nearly 100 feet from the floor. The aisles, which divide the building into four main sections, are similarly treated, and with their columns anchored against the inner rows. Thus is relieved the comparative depression of the curtain walls, whose height from ground to cornice is little more than sixty feet.
- Mines and Mining Building
A further accentuation is given by the principal entrances, one in the centre of each of the four sides, those on the north and south 80 feet wide, with richlv decorated cornices, and flanked by pilasters, on which rest banner staves, their flags imparting to the outline somewhat of a holiday appearance, and modifying the serious aspect of the design. Around all the entrances are monuments, designs, and figures in keeping with the exhibits contained within. At the corners are square pavilions, lighted by arched windows on either face, and with low domical roofs crowned with circular lanterns. Between these pavilions and the main portals are piazzas 25 feet wide, with coffered ceilings, and from which there is access to the interior at several points, from either side of the entrance-halls broad stairways lead to windowed galleries, 60 feet wide, and affording an additional floor space of more than 100,000 square feet. Thence, from numerous openings, the visitor may step forth into recessed balconies, from portions of which is an excellent view of tin structures and grounds adjacent.
In the elaboration of his design the architect has not adopted any special order of architecture, for in doing so he could not have given to his scheme an architectural expression in conformity with the character of the exhibits. The facades are of modern style; the roof planned somewhat after the fashion of those which cover the car-building sheds of the Pullman company. Elsewhere, and especially in the entablatures, are traces of Italian detail, mingled with that of the French renaissance, while in the loggias and balconies the treatment savors of the Doric and the earlier Romanesque. Finally it may be said that, whether from an architectural or utilitarian point of view, the hall of Mines and Mining does not suffer by comparison with its more imposing neighbors.
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