Tribune Tower

The Tribune Tower is the neo-Gothic skyscraper raised by the Chicago Tribune after a 1922 international competition — a contest that drew entries from around the world and helped define what an American skyscraper could look like. Its crown is modeled on a French cathedral, and embedded in its lower walls are fragments brought back from famous structures across the globe: stones from the Parthenon, the Great Wall, Notre-Dame and dozens more, set into the façade.

Photographed June 2024. The detail rewards looking up. In black and white the Gothic ornament and the flying buttresses at the crown read like something carved rather than built — a cathedral that decided to become an office tower.