Flat Iron Building

Not to be confused with the iconic New York City skyscraper, Chicago’s “Flat Iron” is a three-story triangular building dating to the 1920s, notable for its attractive white terra cotta and red and black tiled detail.

It’s divided into a warren of small spaces and many cutting-edge galleries.Working artists took advantage of the unusual spaces and cheap rents, resulting in this being a key destination during neighborhood art festivals to this day.  

In the 1990s, the building boasted unusual tenants such as the outer performance space Milk of Burgundy, and the Friars’ Grill, a super-cheap Greek diner that one family had kept going since the ’50s.  

The building’s owner has a checkered reputation in the neighborhood. He considers himself as a champion of the arts scene, but has been accused of shady practices, ranging from bad maintenance to spying on tenants—a charge alluded to by his failed plan to mount enormous video screens and cameras overlooking the “Six Corners”.