Filene's Department Store
- Architect
- Daniel Burnham
- Year
- 1911
- Style
- Beaux-Arts
- City
- Boston, MA
Filene's Department Store, in Boston's Downtown Crossing, was designed by the legendary Chicago architect Daniel Burnham for brothers Abraham Lincoln Filene and Edward Filene, opening in 1912 as the flagship of the Filene's chain. It was Burnham's last major project and his only building in Boston, and it was long regarded as one of the finest examples of Beaux-Arts architecture in the city.
the building
Burnham's Boston swan song. Daniel Burnham, the celebrated Chicago architect and planner, designed Filene's as the last major project of his career — and it remains his only completed building in Boston.
From flagship to skyscraper base. Federated Department Stores acquired the building in 2005 and closed it in 2006 in favor of the adjacent Macy's. The historic structure has since been folded into the base of the Millennium Tower residential skyscraper, its floors converted to offices for Arnold Worldwide and Havas and retail space for Primark and Roche Bros.
the style
Filene's was built in the Beaux-Arts style and was widely regarded as one of the best examples of Beaux-Arts architecture in the city, a fitting register for a grand flagship department store meant to project civic-scaled confidence for a growing retail chain.
More on Beaux-Artsthe architect
Daniel Burnham was one of the most influential architects and planners in American history, shaping much of turn-of-the-century Chicago. Filene's, completed in 1912, was the last major project of his career and his only building in Boston.
significance
Filene's Department Store is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Though the retail chain closed the store in 2006, the historic building survives as the base of the Millennium Tower residential skyscraper.
nearby
- Gilchrist Department Store
- Blake and Amory Building
- Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston
- R. H. Stearns Building
- Old South Meeting House
- Compton Building