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Also known as: Cathedral of Commerce
Built:
1922- 1925
Designed by: Raymond Hood, and John Mead Howells
Type: Skyscraper
Stories: 34
Maximum height: 463 feet
Location: 435 North Michigan Avenue
City: Chicago
State: Illinois
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nspired by the Button Tower of the cathedral at Rouen, France, the Tribune Tower exemplifies the way American architects have elevated office buildings to sacred status. Newspaper publisher Colonel Robert R. McCormick held a $50,000.00 international competition to design, "the most beautiful and eye-catching office building in the world." In some estimations, it succeeded. The tower has all of the traditional elements of a skyscraper plus heritage expressed in flying buttresses, spires, grotesques, and more. The base of the Tribune Tower contains 120 stones from important locations all around the world, including the Parthenon, in Greece; the pyramids, in Egypt; the Taj Mahal, in India; the Alamo, in San Antonio; the Great Wall of China; and Injun Joe Cave in Missouri.
**The 24th floor was the office of legendry Tribune publisher Colonel Robert R. McCormick. He had a hidden staricase installed that would allow him to escape to a secret hideaway in the event the building was stormed.
**In the lobby of this building is a giant relief map of the United States made out of shredded money.
**The main lobby of the Tribune Tower is known as the Hall of Inscriptions. It is lined with famous quotations about the free press.
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