90's Modern
[Monadnock Building (1891) Burnham & Root, architects /Images & Artwork: designslinger]
The Monadnock Building is one of those buildings that stands at the top of the architectural
heap. If you study architecture, you know about the Mondanock, it broke records and traditions. Completed in 1891 it was outrageously modern for its time and remains one of the most modern buildings ever built. The reason: John Welborn Root, Daniel Burnham's business partner and the designer of this internationally acclaimed structure. Standing 16 stories high, with walls 6 feet thick at its base to support its height, the Monadnock was the tallest masonry building in the world at the time, a title which it still holds today. It has been written about extensively, studied, analyzed, dissected, and remains on the must see list of architects (and those who love architecture) from around the world.
[Monadnock Building (1891 & 1893) Burnham & Root; Holabird & Roche, architects /Images & Artwork: designslinger]
In the mid-1880s commercial architecture was reaching upward, but building tall wasn't
easy in those days, skyscraper technology was new and experimental. Burnham & Root had previously designed a building, the Rookery, for Boston developers Peter and Shephard Brooks, and this time they told the architects, they wanted something with more floors. To build tall, the walls needed to be thick which made the building incredibly heavy. Chicago's sandy, wet soil was working against Root, so he came up with an innovative way to carry all that weight - a bed of concrete and steel that "floats" in the marshyground. He also decided to do away with exterior decoration, an "enhancement" which could be found on nearly every commercial and residential structure of the era, and instead design a tower devoid of ornament. The building would be true to its purpose and function and make a simple yet profound statement. The Monadnock followed Mies van der Rohe's dictum "Less is More" decades before the architect uttered those words.
The plan was to build the building in stages and by the time the Brooks were ready for the
next phase, Root was dead and Burnham was buried in the business of planning and implementing the design of the World Columbian Exposition. So architects Holabird & Roche took over, and you can see in the pictures above how different their approach to the design of the exterior (the building with the massive cornice on the right) was from Roots.
[Interior stairway, Monadnock Building, March 4, 2009 /Images & Artwork: designslinger]
Whatever decoration Root eliminated from the exterior, he brought into the interior
stairways. And although today the Monadnock holds a permanent place in the architectural firmanent, the building was not always held in such high regard. By the late 1960s the owner couldn't earn enough revenue to cover expenses, so he considered tearing it down and replacing it with a two-story "tax building" which would allow for much lower property taxes. Needless to say that plan failed and in 1984 William Donnell bought the building, knew how to make it profitable, and began a 12 year restoration. Today the international icon stands as tall as ever thanks to the efforts of Mr. Donnell and the genius of Mr. Root.
See our post about the Rookery Building.
Posted by designslinger at 5/17/2010 2:47 AM 
Categories: Architecture, History, Architects, Preservation
Tags: Burnham and Root Holabird and Roche John W. Root
Categories: Architecture, History, Architects, Preservation
Tags: Burnham and Root Holabird and Roche John W. Root
Great background information!
Reply to this
Glad you enjoyed it - and thanks for your support!
Reply to this