Merchandise
Mart, an imposing building at the north bank of the
Chicago river between Wells and Orleans street, was
built in 1931.
At that time, when it was constructed
by Marshall Field and Company to replace H.H. Ricardson's
Marshall Field Wholesale store, it was the building
with the largest floor area in the world.
That title was taken in 1941 by the
Pentagon
in
Washington, DC, but
the Merchandise Mart is still an immense office building
with 13.6 km of corridors; it is still the largest commercial
building in the world with 25 floors high and two city
blocks long.

The
complex was renovated between 1986 and 1991 and now
contains a shopping mall on the first two floors. The
rest of the building contains showrooms where design
professionals choose home and office furnishings.
Guided
tours of the Merchandise Mart are available; for info
see
their
website.