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Wisconsin Tower (Mariner Tower)

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1929–1930, Weary and Alford. 606 W. Wisconsin Ave.
  • (Photograph by Paul J. Jakubovich, courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society)

Milwaukee’s tallest 1920s skyscraper was designed by a Chicago firm in the Art Deco style. The architects emphasized the height of the twenty-two-story block by placing the vertical surfaces slightly forward of the horizontal ones. Eschewing the traditional projecting cornice atop the building, they allowed the eye to scan uninterrupted up the walls to the sky. The chamfered corners of the three upper sections and inset two top floors taper the building’s silhouette. The skyward sweep culminates in a needle-like radio mast, the last surviving one of its kind in the city. Mariner Tower’s first two floors are clad in polished marble and ornamented with low-relief Art Deco metal castings designed by Arthur Weary. Upper floors are wrapped in smooth Bedford limestone. The entrance, with its handsome grilles, and the marble lobby exhibit beautiful examples of the geometric stylization and simplified forms characteristic of Art Deco.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Marsha Weisiger et al.
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Data

What's Nearby

Hilton Milwaukee City Center (Schroeder Hotel)
Wisconsin Center (Midwest Airlines Center)
Milwaukee Central Library
Grand Avenue Park (Court of Honor)
Reuss Federal Plaza

Citation

Marsha Weisiger et al., "Wisconsin Tower (Mariner Tower)", [Milwaukee, Wisconsin], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/WI-01-MI51.

Print Source

Buildings of Wisconsin

Buildings of Wisconsin, Marsha Weisiger and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2017, 95-95.

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