Monadnock Building
The tallest building ever raised on brick walls alone, built at the very moment steel made such walls obsolete.
At a glance
The Monadnock Building runs a full block in the Chicago Loop, sixteen storeys tall. Its northern half, finished in 1891 by Burnham and Root, carries its weight on brick walls so thick at the base that the windows seem to sink into them. The southern half, by Holabird and Roche in 1893, used the new steel frame. The building stands on the hinge between two ages of construction.
Key facts
- Location: 53 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago
- Architects: Burnham & Root (north); Holabird & Roche (south)
- Built: 1891–1893
- Note: among the tallest load-bearing masonry buildings ever built
- Function: offices
History
When the developers asked for height without ornament, John Root designed a sheer brick tower whose walls do all the work, flaring at the base where the load is greatest. It was finished in 1891.
By the time the southern half went up two years later, the steel frame had won, and Holabird and Roche built theirs that way. The two halves, side by side, show the change. Restored, the building is still full of offices.
What you see
The north block is a cliff of purple-brown brick, almost without decoration, curving outward at top and bottom in a single sweep. The walls are nearly two metres thick where they meet the ground. After the carved stone of Victorian offices, its bareness looked shockingly modern, and still does.
Practical information
- Open: an office building; lobby accessible in business hours
- Cost: free to view
- Best for: the sheer brick walls and the restored lobby
- Time needed: 15–20 minutes
Getting there
The building is in the south Loop on Jackson Boulevard. CTA trains stop at LaSalle and Library within a block or two.
Nearby
- The Rookery — Burnham and Root’s earlier office, a few blocks north
- Auditorium Building — Adler and Sullivan, to the east
Sources
- Encyclopædia Britannica / Wikipedia — Monadnock Building
- National Park Service — National Historic Landmark record
- Wikimedia Commons — image source and licence
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