Theater
Aragon Ballroom
Spanish-style ballroom under a painted night sky of drifting clouds and twinkling stars.
0:00≈ 2 min
Location
0:00≈ 2 min
About this audio guide
This guide to the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago tells how brothers William and Andrew Karzas spent two million dollars in 1926 to build an escape from Illinois winters: a painted plaster sky of drifting clouds and twinkling stars overhead. It follows their designer, John Eberson, a movie-palace architect who specialized in disguising rooms as outdoor courtyards, and his choice to model this one on a Moorish castle courtyard from Spain's Aragon region. Listen for what regulars say about the dance floor's construction, laid with cork, felt, and steel springs beneath the maple boards.
This audio guide was created using AI.