Tribune Tower
A neo-Gothic tower studded with stones from around the world.
Key facts
- Completed 1925
- Won a famous 1922 international design contest
- Neo-Gothic style with flying buttresses on top
- Walls embedded with 150+ stones from world landmarks
- Includes pieces of the Great Wall & the Taj Mahal
Narration transcript
Just past the Wrigley Building, also on your right, stands Tribune Tower, a dramatic tower that looks like it was plucked straight out of medieval Europe. Back in 1922, the Chicago Tribune newspaper held a worldwide contest to design the most beautiful office building in the world, offering a huge prize. Architects from all over sent in designs, and the winning entry, completed in 1925, was this soaring neo-Gothic tower, topped with delicate stone arches called flying buttresses, modeled on a famous cathedral in Rouen, France. But here is the part kids absolutely love: embedded right into the outer walls, down low where you can touch them, are more than one hundred and fifty stones and fragments collected from famous places all around the world. There is a chunk of the Great Wall of China, a piece of the Taj Mahal, a stone from the Egyptian pyramids, from the Roman Colosseum, from Notre Dame in Paris, and many more, each one labeled. Reporters brought them back from their travels over the years. Family tip: if you ever walk past its base on foot, turn it into a treasure hunt to find as many famous stones as you can.