Tribune Tower

In 1922, the Chicago Daily Tribune organized a competition for the ‘most beautiful and eye-catching building in the world’. Raymond Hood – who would later build the Rockefeller Center in New York – and John Howell won the first place due to their familiar Gothic design and because the building fulfilled the needs of the newspaper best.

The award was very much criticized at the time as the Gothic design went against the modernizing trend set by the Chicago School and against the ideas of the more functional European architecture, later known as the International Style, which reduced decorations to the bare minimum. It would in fact be the second place design from Eliel Saarinen and another major contender from Walter Gropius, which would greatly influence later skyscraper designs.

The Tribune Tower was completed in 1925 and reaches a height of 141 meters. It is located at North Michigan Avenue (known as the Magnificent Mile), near the Chicago River. The tower has been modeled after the Button Tower of the Rouen Cathedral in France. With its decorative buttresses at the top, the Chicago Tribune Tower remains a remarkable architectural monument.

An interesting fact is that the Tribune Tower contains many famous stones incorporated in the wall, including rock fragments from the Alamo, the Colosseum and the Chinese Wall. A steel fragment from the World Trade Center in New York has also been added to the wall. All these objects are labeled and visible from the street level. The most famous part of the collection is a moon rock which is not incorporated in the building but on display behind a glass window.