The Chicago Board of Trade Building is an Art Deco skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. Rising to about 184 metres (604 ft) with 44 floors, it has long stood as a visual and institutional landmark in the city’s financial district. Completed during the late 1920s–1930s building boom, the tower was erected to house the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the exchange that organized and regulated agricultural and other commodity trading in the United States.
Architecture and design
The building is an example of the Art Deco style that dominated American commercial architecture in the interwar period. Its massing uses the stepped setbacks required by zoning of the era, producing a tiered silhouette that accentuates the vertical lines of the façade. The exterior is finished in dressed stone and stylized ornamentation, while the tower is topped by a stylized representation of the Roman goddess Ceres, a reference to the exchange’s agricultural origins.
History and function
Designed by a prominent architectural firm of its time, the building opened to serve as the centralized headquarters and trading floors for the CBOT. For decades its trading pits—where open outcry auctions were conducted—were an active center of commodity price discovery. In the early 21st century, trading activity shifted toward electronic platforms, and the Chicago Board of Trade later became part of consolidated market groups. Despite technological change, the building continued to symbolize Chicago’s role in global commodity markets.
Notable features
- Prominent rooftop sculpture and crown that identify the building on the skyline.
- Large trading hall(s) and historically significant interior spaces tied to market activity.
- Art Deco detailing and setback tower form characteristic of its era.
- Association with the development of organized commodity markets in the United States.
Beyond its functional role, the Chicago Board of Trade Building has been treated as an architectural and cultural icon. It appears frequently in photographs, film and descriptions of Chicago’s Loop and is often noted for its strong silhouette and sculptural crown. Preservationists and urban historians cite the building when discussing the evolution of American exchange houses and the architectural response to commercial growth in early 20th-century cities.
Today the structure remains a visible piece of Chicago’s downtown fabric. While the mechanics of trading have evolved, the building’s combination of civic presence, distinctive design and historical association with agriculture and finance keeps it relevant as both an emblem of the past and a continuing part of the city’s built environment.