A Tribute

The Tribune Tower - a bold icon to this city of broad shoulders, big industry, innovation and business acumen. I couldn’t help but photograph its timeless and embellished beauty in the dusk of New Years Eve 2020. These images are a true tribute to the building’s elegance.

A little history to appreciate this edifice. In the roaring 1922’s, the Chicago Tribune decided to boldly host an international interior and exterior design competition for its new headquarters to mark its 75th anniversary. To add to the fanfare, it offered a $50,000 first prize for "the most beautiful and distinctive office building in the world". That’s a hefty $750,000 in today’s dollars.

The competition worked better than any modern day mass marketing scheme, drawing attention from around the world. The resulting entries still reveal a unique turning point in American architectural history. 

More than 260 exotic, futuristic and unconventional entries were received. The designs ranged from progressive to beautifully classic. However, the winner was a neo-Gothic design by New York architects John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood. It’s signature were soaring buttresses near the top and the ornate detail that embellished all aspects of the structure. 

These entries were originally published by the Tribune Company in 1923 under the title Tribune Tower Competition and later in The Chicago Tribune Tower Competition: Skyscraper Design and Cultural Change in the 1920s. It became a pivotal acknowledgement of Chicago as an architectural mecca and home to the bold skyscraper. 

The finished building features carved images of Robin Hood (after Hood himself) and a howling dog ( a reference to Howells) near the main entrance to commemorate the architects. The top of the tower is designed after the Rouen Cathedral in France.

Today this building commands an historic seat on the skyline and in Chicago’s history. It is currently going through a full rebirth as a beautiful residential tower, soon to be opened for occupancy in the early part of 2021.

Photos by Eric Masi // Co-Founder