Tribune Tower

“The first newspaper, the Chicago Democrat founded by John Calhoun, began publishing on a weekly basis the same year. The population of Chicago increased to over 4,000 by 1836, due to the start of construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal.”

“After the first issue was distributed on June 10, 1847, the Journal reviewed the Tribune with the following statement in its next issue: Chicago Daily Tribune--A large and well-printed sheet with the above title was laid on our table this morning.”

“The Tribune remained there until 1852 when it moved to the Evans block, a three-story brick building erected by Dr. John Evans, later territorial governor of Colorado under President Lincoln.”

“The tower effect is created by a series of setbacks, the first of which occurs above the third floor. At the twenty-first floor, the westernmost portion of the building ends and the tower becomes square in plan.”

“The Tribune Tower was designed to maximize the sheer visual pleasure in the structure and the constantly changing environment around and within the building. The original 1920s printing plant building at the rear of the Tribune Tower was extensively enlarged and altered in 1948 and the original brick south wall refaced in cut bedford limestone in 1965 during the construction of the adjoining Pioneer Court.”

“The lobby is located on the first floor of the Tribune Tower, with the main entrance on the west side of the building fronting on Michigan Avenue. The lobby consists of a vestibule, entrance lobby, and two elevator halls leading to five elevators in each hall, as illustrated in the shaded areas of the enclosed plan of the first floor.”

“Hood was one of the original nationally known architects selected for the Architectural Commission of the Chicago Century of Progress World's Fair of 1933. General Electric commissioned Hood to design the General Electric Pavilion for the fair.”

“Howells served on the National Fine Arts Commission under Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt. After World War I he went to Belgium at the request of President Hoover, then the chairman of the Commission for Relief in Belgium Educational Foundation, to take charge of the construction of new buildings for the University of Brussels.”

“The new building would be connected to the printing plant, but it would also occupy a prominent position on the developing Michigan Avenue. Tribune Tower: Twentieth-Century American Gothicism In observance of its seventy-fifth anniversary, the Chicago Tribune on June 10, 1922, announced an international competition for a new building it planned to build on a site on the east side of Michigan Avenue, just north of the river and adjacent to its six-story printing plant which had been built in 1920.”

“Dramatically sited where Michigan Avenue crosses the Chicago River, the Tribune Tower is part of a magnificent group of four buildings that demonstrate this architectural transition. The three other buildings erected during this period are: the historically-derived Wrigley Building, the 360 North Michigan Building representing Beaux-Arts classicism, and 333 North Michigan in the Art Deco style.”