John Wellborn Root
Encyclopedia

John Wellborn Root was an American architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 who worked out of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 with Daniel Burnham
Daniel Burnham
Daniel Hudson Burnham, FAIA was an American architect and urban planner. He was the Director of Works for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He took a leading role in the creation of master plans for the development of a number of cities, including Chicago and downtown Washington DC...

. He was one of the founders of the Chicago School
Chicago school (architecture)
Chicago's architecture is famous throughout the world and one style is referred to as the Chicago School. The style is also known as Commercial style. In the history of architecture, the Chicago School was a school of architects active in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century...

 style. One of his buildings was designated a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

; others have been designated Chicago landmarks and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

.

Early years and education

John Wellborn Root was born in 1850 in Lumpkin, Georgia
Lumpkin, Georgia
Lumpkin is a city in, and the county seat of, Stewart County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,369 at the 2000 census.-History:This area of Georgia was inhabited by indigenous Native Americans for thousands of years before European contact...

, the son of Sidney Root
Sidney Root
Sidney Root an American businessman.Root was born in Montague in western Massachusetts, but early in his life his family moved to Vermont, where his boyhood days were spent in the shadow of the Green Mountains. On his father's plantation he acquired the industrious habits which characterized him...

 and his wife, Mary H. Clark. He was named after a maternal uncle, Marshall Johnson Wellborn
Marshall Johnson Wellborn
Marshall Johnson Wellborn was an American politician, lawyer and jurist.Born near Eatonton, Georgia in 1808 and attended the University of Georgia in Athens. He studied law and was admitted to the state bar in 1826. He began praciticing law in Columbus, Georgia, and was elected to the Georgia...

. Root was raised in Atlanta, where he was homeschooled. When Atlanta fell to the Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...

 during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, Root's father managed to send young Root and two other boys on a steamer to England, while his mother and sister went to Cuthburt, Georgia. John's father, Sidney, had a shipping business in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

While in Liverpool, Root studied at Clare Mount School. His later design work was said to have been influenced by the pioneering work of Liverpool architect Peter Ellis
Peter Ellis (architect)
Peter Ellis was a Liverpudlian architect. He lived for a time at 40 Falkner Square, on which an English Heritage Blue Plaque is now sited....

, who designed and built the world's first two metal-framed, glass curtain-walled buildings, Oriel Chambers
Oriel Chambers
Oriel Chambers is the world's first metal framed glass curtain walled building. Designed by architect Peter Ellis and built in 1864, it comprises set over five floors...

, 1864, and 16 Cook Street
16 Cook Street
16 Cook Street, Liverpool was built in 1866 and, together with Oriel Chambers on the city's Water Street, forms the complete work of Peter Ellis. It is a Grade II* Listed Building....

, 1866.

After Root returned to the U.S., he earned an undergraduate degree from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

 in 1869. After graduation, he took a job with the architect James Renwick, Jr.
James Renwick, Jr.
James Renwick, Jr. , was a prominent American architect in the 19th-century. The Encyclopedia of American Architecture calls him "one of the most successful American architects of his time".-Life and work:Renwick was born into a wealthy and well-educated family...

 of Renwick and Sands of New York as an unpaid apprentice. Later he took a position with John Butler Snook in New York. While working for Snook, Root was a construction supervisor on Warren and Wetmore
Warren and Wetmore
Warren and Wetmore was an architecture firm in New York City. It was a partnership between Whitney Warren and Charles Wetmore , that had one of the most extensive practices of its time and was known for the designing of large hotels.Whitney Warren was a cousin of the Vanderbilts and spent ten...

's Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...

. It is also said that Root was greatly influenced by the architecture of Henry Hobson Richardson
Henry Hobson Richardson
Henry Hobson Richardson was a prominent American architect who designed buildings in Albany, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and other cities. The style he popularized is named for him: Richardsonian Romanesque...

.

Chicago and career

In 1871 Root moved to Chicago, where he was employed as a draftsman in an architectural firm. There he met Daniel Burnham
Daniel Burnham
Daniel Hudson Burnham, FAIA was an American architect and urban planner. He was the Director of Works for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He took a leading role in the creation of master plans for the development of a number of cities, including Chicago and downtown Washington DC...

. Two years later in 1873, they formed the firm of Burnham and Root
Burnham and Root
Burnham and Root was the name of the company that John Wellborn Root and Daniel Hudson Burnham established as one of Chicago's most famous architectural companies of the nineteenth century....

; they worked together for 18 years. During the economic downturn in 1873, Root earned extra income on jobs with other firms and as the organist at the First Presbyterian Church.

Mature years (after 1873)

Root developed the floating raft system
Floating raft system
Floating raft is type of land-based foundation that protects against settlement and the liquefaction of soft soil due to seismic activity. It was a necessary innovation in the development of tall buildings in the wet soil of Chicago in the 19th century, where it was developed by John Wellborn Root...

 of interlaced steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

 beams, to create a foundation for tall buildings that would not sink in Chicago's marshy soil. Root's first use of this revolutionary system was for the Montauk Building
Montauk Building
The Montauk Building - also often referred to as Montauk Block - was a high-rise building in Chicago, Illinois.Designed by John Wellborn Root Sr. and Daniel Burnham, it was built in 1882–1883, and was demolished in 1902...

 in 1882. He later transferred use of the steel frame to the vertical load-bearing walls in the Phenix Building of 1887, in imitation of William LeBaron Jenney's Home Insurance Building
Home Insurance Building
The Home Insurance Building was built in 1884 in Chicago, Illinois, USA and destroyed in 1931 to make way for the Field Building . It was the first building to use structural steel in its frame, but the majority of its structure was composed of cast and wrought iron...

 of 1885.

Root, Burnham, Dankmar Adler
Dankmar Adler
Dankmar Adler was a celebrated German-born American architect.-Early years:...

, and Louis Sullivan
Louis Sullivan
Louis Henri Sullivan was an American architect, and has been called the "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism" He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an...

 formed the Western Association of Architects
Western Association of Architects
The Western Association of Architects was an American professional body founded in Chicago in 1884 separately from the American Institute of Architects by John Wellborn Root, Daniel Burnham, Dankmar Adler, and Louis Sullivan, because they felt slighted by East Coast architects of the AIA...

 because they felt slighted by East Coast architects. Root served as president in 1886. In 1887, he was elected a director of the national American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...

. His work from his prime years has been recognized for significance by being designated as National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

, National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

, and Chicago landmarks.

He worked on the plan for the World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...

 in Chicago. Before it was constructed, Root died of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...

 in 1891 at the age of 41. He was buried in Uptown
Uptown, Chicago
Uptown is one of Chicago’s 77 community areas. Uptown has well defined boundaries. They are: Foster on the north; Lake Michigan on the east; Montrose , and Irving Park on the south; Ravenswood , and Clark on the west. Uptown borders three community areas and Lake Michigan...

's Graceland Cemetery
Graceland Cemetery
Graceland Cemetery is a large Victorian era cemetery located in the north side community area of Uptown, in the city of Chicago, Illinois, USA. Established in 1860, its main entrance is at the intersection of Clark Street and Irving Park Road...

.

Marriage and family

Root married Mary Louise Walker in 1879, but she died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...

 six weeks later. In 1882, he married for a second time, to Dora Louise Monroe. Their son John Wellborn Root, Jr.
John Wellborn Root, Jr.
John Wellborn Root, Jr. was a significant U.S. architect based in Chicago. He was the son of architect John Wellborn Root. As a young man, he graduated from Cornell University and studied architecture at Paris' Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where he became friends with John Augur Holabird, the son of...

  also practiced in Chicago as an architect.

Significant buildings

  • Grannis Block (1880)
  • Montauk Building
    Montauk Building
    The Montauk Building - also often referred to as Montauk Block - was a high-rise building in Chicago, Illinois.Designed by John Wellborn Root Sr. and Daniel Burnham, it was built in 1882–1883, and was demolished in 1902...

     (1882–1883)
  • Rookery Building
    Rookery Building
    The Rookery Building is a historic landmark located in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Completed by John Wellborn Root and Daniel Burnham of Burnham and Root in 1888, it is considered one of their masterpiece buildings. It once housed the office of the...

     (1885), National Historic Landmark (NHL)
  • Phenix Building (1887)
  • Lake View Presbyterian Church (1888) http://www.lakeviewpresbyterian.org/
  • Monadnock Building
    Monadnock Building
    The Monadnock Building , is a skyscraper located at 53 West Jackson Boulevard in the south Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. The north half of the building was designed by the firm of Burnham & Root and built in 1891...

     (1889), National Register of Historic Places (NRHP)
  • Reliance Building
    Reliance Building
    The Reliance Building is a skyscraper located at 32 North State Street in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. The first floor and basement were designed by John Root of the Burnham and Root architectural firm in 1890, with the rest of the building completed by Charles B. Atwood in 1895...

     (1889), ground floor only—featured large display windows which set a new standard, NHL

External links

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