Monadnock Building - Chicago, IL
Posted by: 
Hikenutty
N 41° 52.690 W 087° 37.718
16T E 447838 N 4636440
The Monadnock Building, the last building designed by John Root, was built in 1891 and is the tallest solid brick masonry building in the world.
Waymark Code: WM3Y2H
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 06/03/2008
Views: 25
The Monadnock is famous for its simplicity of line and is seen as one of the prototypes of the modern skyscraper. The 17 story building stands 197 feet tall and was actually built in 2 phases.
The northern half, designed by John Root of the Burnham and Root firm, is the last loadbearing skyscraper built and was so heavy that it sank into the ground after it was built and required steps down into the building. The walls at the base of the building are 15 feet thick to handle the load. Originally the building was to have added ornamentation with an Egyptiian motif, but the developer demanded that the building have no ornamentation.
The southern half of the building has the more modern steel frame construction, so the building truly marks the end of one era of construction and the beginning of another.
An interesting fact is that the building's name is taken from a mountain in New Hampshire that became a geological term for a freestanding mountain surrounded by a plain.
Link to this greatbuildings.com Webpage to see a wonderful historic photo showing the entire structure.