Eliel_Saarinen's_Tribune_Tower_design

Eliel Saarinen's Tribune Tower design

Eliel Saarinen's Tribune Tower design

Unbuilt design for a modernist skyscraper

Eliel Saarinen's Tribune Tower design, also called the Saarinen tower, was an unbuilt design for a skyscraper by Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen. It was submitted in 1922 for the architectural competition organized by the Chicago Tribune for their new headquarters. The winning entry, the neo-Gothic Tribune Tower, was constructed in 1925. Saarinen's entry came in second place but had a significant influence on the design of numerous future buildings.

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Background

In 1921–22, the Tribune Tower competition was held to determine the design for the new headquarters of the Chicago Tribune, a major American metropolitan newspaper. The competition garnered 260 entries, and the first place honor was awarded to a design by New York architects John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood. Their neo-Gothic building was completed in 1925. Eliel Saarinen received $20,000 for his second-place finish, although his design was never constructed.[1] Many observers considered Saarinen's simplified yet soaring setback tower to be the most fitting entry, and his innovative modernist design exerted a significant influence on subsequent architectural projects.[2][3]

Although Saarinen was an experienced architect, he had never previously undertaken the design of a skyscraper. To develop his noteworthy design, he drew inspiration from the upward sweep of Gothic architecture, which he then elevated as his primary design principle, emphasizing verticality. He emphasized that through "logical construction," each element of the design was intended to contribute to the overall goal of verticality.[4] Saarinen submitted the design at the age of 49, and the following year he relocated from Finland to the Chicago area. While in the U.S., he contributed to an overall design for the Chicago lakefront, and he lectured at the University of Michigan. However, none of his skyscraper designs were ever built. Nonetheless, others found success by incorporating his visionary ideas. Co-winner of the Tribune Tower competition, Raymond Hood, adopted Saarinen's skyscraper style for several subsequent projects.[5] Additionally, other contemporary architects, including Timothy L. Pflueger, George W. Kelham, Hubbell and Benes, Holabird & Roche, Alfred C. Finn, and James Edwin Ruthven Carpenter Jr., as well as later architect César Pelli, emulated Saarinen's design.[6]

Reception

Respected Chicago architect Louis Sullivan offered high praise to Saarinen's design, and said that his building indicated the future direction for the old Chicago School. Sullivan named Saarinen his stylistic successor. Chicago architects Thomas Tallmadge and Irving Kane Pond were also very vocal in their praise for Saarinen. Pond said Saarinen's design was by far the best contest entry, that it was devoid of the superficial adornments featured on the winning entry, and free of the "stranglehold of conventional forms."[4] Tallmadge projected that Saarinen's design would be transformative for American skyscrapers.[7] He said that under Saarinen's hand, the spirit of the skyscraper, "rid of its inhibitions and suppressed desires... leaps in joyous freedom to the sky."[8]

Skyscraper Museum director Carol Willis, and art consultant Franck Mercurio, curator at the Field Museum in Chicago, offer moderating modern views about the influence of Saarinen's design. Willis notes that setback architecture was being implemented in New York City highrises because of 1916 zoning ordinances related to building height and sunlight, and that Saarinen's design was understood to be an embodiment of this trend.[9] Mercurio points to the Tribune Tower competition entry from American architect Bertram Goodhue as having the same modernist features as Saarinen's, with dramatic setbacks but a more pronounced simplification of the exterior. Mercurio argues that Goodhue's design is a better example of modernism because it has less ornamentation. Goodhue's entry gained him honorable mention but no cash award.[10]

Buildings influenced

The following buildings are regarded to have been influenced by Saarinen's 1922 design.

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References

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    "David Stott Building, Donaldson & Meier, 1929". Preservation: Detroit Art Deco Highlights. Detroit Area Art Deco Society. Retrieved September 12, 2013.
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    Lazarki, Andrea J. (24 April 1989). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Bryant Building". National Archives Catalog. Landmarks Commission, Kansas City, Mo. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
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