Day 35: A Tribute to the Tribune

     In 1847, the Chicago Tribune first hit newsstands in the city of Chicago.  76 years later, the paper was looking for a more permanent home.  The paper held a design competition, where it solicited ideas for "the most beautiful and distinctive office building in the world" from many, many different sources.  In all, 260 different designs were submitted, of which a Gothic Revival design by John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood of New York was selected the winner.

     The Gothic design was considered an established design method by this time, having first been used in New York's Woolworth Building in 1913.  Regardless of it's perceived historicism, the design was selected.  The sculputres and decorations on the outside of the building were carved by Rene Paul Chambellan, an American artist who was a frequent collaborator of Hood's(in fact, Chambellan had worked on the American Radiator Building and Rockefeller Center with Hood in New York City).  Among the many images on the building, there is one of Robin Hood(to symbolize Hood), and one of a howling dog(to symbolize Howells).  One other addition by Chambellan was the inclusion of a frog amongst the gargoyles, in deference to his French ancestry.

     One of the most well-known traits of the building is the exterior decoration.  While the building was being built, the head of the Tribune sent out correspondents to all corners of the world to bring back artifacts suitable to be embedded in the lower levels of the building. Some of the places represented on the exterior of the building include:

• The Taj Mahal
• Notre Dame Cathedral
• Lincoln's Tomb
• The Great Pyramid
• The Berlin Wall
• The Alamo
• The Parthenon
• Independence Hall
• The Great Wall of China
• And in a more recent entry, a piece of steel from the World Trade Center.

     The tower has influenced many other buildings, perhaps most notably the Grace Building in Sydney, Australia.  The building is located in Pioneer Court, very close to the Jack Brickhouse bust as well as the former location of the Marilyn Monroe statue.  Next time you're there, check it out.  You won't be disappointed.