Chicago tribune tower competition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Chicago tribune tower competition - Essay Example(see fig. 1) Yet as with any design project, opinions were subjective, many professionals believing the success should have been the simplified modernistic design by the Finnish architect, Eliel Saarinen.(see fig. 2). Winner or not, future designs would in brief replicate Saarinens simplicity and the competition itself become the focal point of discussion and ideas that would for eer effectuate the purpose and design of these giant, impressive structures. (jitterbuzz.com, no date)Howells and Hoods design, with its classic buttresses popular in the early twentieth century, seemed a logical choice to blend with other more traditional buildings in the city. The thirty-six story building featured a spectacular topside treatment with structural piers shooting upwards to flying buttresses that form an ornate ornamental crown. Elaborate Gothic carvings adorn the top and bottom of the building along with contributing decorations from more than one-hundred and twenty structures of significance, including the Great Wall of China. As was the case with most of Hoods projects, the sculptures and decorations were execute by the American artist Rene Paul Chamberllan. The tower also features carved images of Robin Hood (Hood) and a howling dog (Howells) near the main entrance to commemorate the architects. Its famous lobby incorporates patriotic passages support freedom of the press. Its Gothic style, hardly unique, was somewhat based on a precedent set by Hoods Woolworth Building, built 1913(see fig 3) ( jitterbuzz.com, no date, para. 3).Critics such as Louis Sullivan, who coined the phrase form ever follows function, disagreed on principle with the committees choice. Though Sullivans quote has often been everywhere-and misused over time, his Sullivans point, that the style of architecture should reflect its purpose, made sense at the time, and continued to do so for a good deal of the last century... (Rawsthorn, 2009, para. 3).In preferring