Tribune Tower, Chicago

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Although the Tribune Tower (1922-25), built for the Chicago Tribune newspaper, is a magnificent example of 'sortof Gothic' skyscraper, with some elements strongly reminiscent of European Gothic cathedrals, it was no that which drew me to visit.

It was the fact that, for a reason which is entirely beyond my ken, correspondents from the newspaper brought back chunks of masonry (120 in all) from historical and archaeological sites all over the world, and these were incorporated into the lower levels of the building's structure as it was created. They are labelled, although in some cases the lettering is very worn (apparently you can pick up an identification leaflet in the lobby, though I didn't).

You can probably guess what I think about the acceptability of doing this, but..to be fair..the Tribune Tower was built almost a century ago. The past is another country and it is foolish to judge it by the standards of today.

So I suggest you spend some time looking at the various bits & bobs in the lower levels; you'll find chunks from the UK Houses of Parliament, the Forbidden City, the ruins at Leptis Magna (Libya) and many more. There even supposed to be a bit of moon rock there, lent by MASA and in a special case, but I didn't spot it.

It's worth venturing into the lobby too; it's covered in quotations (painted on the walls) which support a free press. And there's a big map of North America too, made of plaster mixed with dollar bills.

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This neo-Gothic beauty is the home of the Chicago Tribune newspaper and impossible to miss. Built in 19922-1925, the architects - John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood - won a competition held by the Tribune for the design of their new headquarters.

Embedded into the walls at street level are artifacts from historic sites all over the world that were obtained by the newspaper's reporters. These include, among others, pieces from the Great Wall (China); the Parthenon (Greece); Notre Dame (France); the Colosseum (Italy); the World Trade Center (United States).

The tower's many embellishments were designed by Rene Paul Chamellan: his marvelous entrance with intricately entwined figures from Aesop's fables makes delicate lace of hard stone. It also contains two amusing picture puns of the architects' names in the form of a howling dog (Howells) and Robin Hood (Hood).

The lobby - known as the Hall of Inscriptions - is covered with engraved quotations mindful of the ethical obligations of a responsible press: reminders that a few publishers could use some brushing up on these days?

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Located at 435 North Michigan Avenue,TRIBUNE TOWER is a nwo-gothic building and houses the Chicago Tribune, WGN Radio and CNN's Chicago Bureau.
Construction on the tower was completed in 1925 and reached a height of 462 feet (141 meters). The Tower features carved images of Robin Hood and a howling dog near the main entrance, to commemorate the architects John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood.

WGN Radio has a 1st floor studio with a window located in the Tribune Tower. If you walk by on weekdays, you may be able to look in on a live broadcast. There is usually something going on in there from 9 AM - 9 PM, and at various times on weekends.

WGN Radio is one of the world's most listened to radio stations, over the internet and through the airwaves. The signal can be reached in most of the USA and Canada. WGN went on the air for the first time on June 1, 1924. The radio station is owned by the Tribune Company and features news, talk, and broadcasts Chicago Cubs Baseball. The call letters were meant to stand for "World's Greatest Newspaper".

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Home of the Chicago Daily Tribune, Tribune Tower is a beautiful neo-gothic skyscraper. While the architecture is worth a look, what really makes the building worth stopping are actually the parts of the building that are not part of it!

Along the base of Tribune Tower are pieces of famous monuments throughout the world and beyond! You'll find pieces of the Egyptian Pyramids, China's Great Wall, India's Taj Mahal, and so many other world-reknown monuments. There are also pieces of many famous American monuments, such as Philadelphia's Independence Hall, the Alamo, and the World Trade Center Building. A moon rock is also on display!

A walk around the tower is a walk around the world, and it's completely free!

Built in 1925 this 462 feet (141 m) tall limestone building was the winning design of a 1922 international competion. Sponsored by the Tribune Company, architects were challenged to design the world's most beautiful office building.

The tower is of Gothic design, with flying buttresses based on France's Rouen Cathedral. The exterior walls have more than 100 rock fragments embedded in them. These come from some of the world's most famous sites, such as London's Westminster Abbey & Beijing's Forbidden City.

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To celebrate its 75th anniversary in 1922, the Chicago Tribune launched an international design competition, asking architects to come up with plans for the most beautiful office building in the world. Over 260 entries were submitted, and New York architects John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood ended up winning the competition with a Neo-Gothic design that allied the smooth facade of 20th century American buildings with the Gothic elements that could be found on European Gothic cathedrals, especially that of Rouen, France.

One feature that I thought was very interesting is the collection of over 100 rock fragments from famous sites around the world, ranging from the Berlin Wall and the Great Wall of China to the Great Pyramid of Giza and the World Trade Center, that are embedded in the walls of the Tribune Tower. I spent quite a few minutes walking along the base of the building, trying to locate rocks from places I'd visited - and I was incredibly proud to spot one that came from Quebec City's Seminaire!!

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My one serious walking tour of Chicago began on a Sunday morning, on what turned into a beautiful sunny day with temperatures of about 16 C. Drifting over to Michigan Avenue, the first building to catch my eye was the Tribune Tower, an ornate structure calling itself home to the Chicago Tribune newspaper, a radio station and even an office of CNN. Maybe it is from seeing ornate cathedrals at various places in the world, but I liked its neo-Gothic design with flying buttresses way up near the top of this 462-ft tall 36-story building! There are also some other similar flourishes down low over the main doorway into the building (2nd & 3rd photos).

At the time, I didn't know that the Tribune Tower is the result of a worldwide design contest held in 1922 by the newspaper when it was looking for a new head office building and it offered a $50,000 prize for "the most beautiful and eye-catching building in the world". It turned out that a design based on the flying buttresses of the cathedral in Rouen, France beat out the other 260+ entries. Another unique feature of the building are stones and objects from various historic sites around the world embedded in the walls beside the door. My 4th photo shows a couple of them - a small white square from Westminster Abbey (London) and a lower and larger block from Edinburgh Castle (Scotland). Construction was completed in 1925 and it still looks like a grand old building!

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Walking around on Michigan Avenue is a veritable "feast" for the eyes. The architecture here is amazing. One of the buildings, The Chicago Tribune Tower, was one of my particular favorites. I became more intrigued when I saw the statue of Nathan Hale outside the building.

The Chicago Tribune Tower design was a result of a contest. In 1922, The Tribune began a design competition for the "most beautiful and eye-catching building in the world." The contest gave the winner $50,000 in prize money and garnered over 260 entries. The winner was a neo-Gothic design by Raymond Hood and John Howells. Construction on the actual Tribune Tower was completed in 1925 and reached a height of 462 feet (141 meters) above ground.

An interesting note here** before the Tribune Tower was built, correspondents for the Chicago Tribune brought back rocks and bricks from historical sites from around the world, these rocks, stones and bricks have been incorporated into the lowest levels of the building and are labeled where they came from. These include the Taj Mahal, the Parthenon, Abraham Lincoln's Tomb, the Great Wall of China and the Berlin Wall. Even a rock returned from the moon has been embedded in the building. The most recent addition was a piece from the New York World Trade Center (see photo.)

In this picture is a statue of Nathan Hale, a member of the Continental Army. Hale was executed by the British for spying during the Revolutionary War. He is considered an American hero. There is a larger statue of him outside the CIA Headquarters in Washington DC.

The Chicago Tribune Tower is an impressive Gothic style building on Michigan Ave. And while the building is impressive and beautiful the most interesting feature is the fact that the facade of the building contains stones from many famous structures from around the world. These famous structures include: the Great Wall of China, Westminster Abbey. the Berlin Wall, a Moon rock, the Taj Mahal, the Alamo, the Parthenon, Notre Dame Cathedral, the White House, Winter Palace in the Forbidden City, the Kremlin, the Colossuem and Mark Twain's 'Injun Joe' Cave. While a number of these stones were gotten legally a large majority of them were reportedly gotten by less than honourable means.