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Monadnock Building
 
 
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The Monadnock Building, also known as Monadnock Block, is a historic proto-skyscraper in the Loop
Chicago Loop

The Loop is the term used to designate the historical center of central business district Chicago. Most accurately, the term refers to an area bounded by a public transit circuit along Lake Street on the north, Wabash Avenue on the east, Van Buren Street on the south, and Wells Street on the west, but in general use it refers to the whole cen...
 district of downtown Chicago
Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
, Illinois
Illinois

The State of Illinois is a U.S. state of the United States, the 21st to be admitted to the United States. Illinois is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern United States state and the fifth most populous state in the nation....
. It is the tallest commercial building in the world with masonry
Masonry

Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar , and the term "masonry" can also refer to the units themselves....
 load-bearing walls. It is located at .

The seventeen-story building stands 197 feet
Foot

The foot is an anatomical structure found in many animals. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of one or more segments or bones, generally including claws or nails....
 (60 meters) tall.






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The Monadnock Building, also known as Monadnock Block, is a historic proto-skyscraper in the Loop
Chicago Loop

The Loop is the term used to designate the historical center of central business district Chicago. Most accurately, the term refers to an area bounded by a public transit circuit along Lake Street on the north, Wabash Avenue on the east, Van Buren Street on the south, and Wells Street on the west, but in general use it refers to the whole cen...
 district of downtown Chicago
Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
, Illinois
Illinois

The State of Illinois is a U.S. state of the United States, the 21st to be admitted to the United States. Illinois is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern United States state and the fifth most populous state in the nation....
. It is the tallest commercial building in the world with masonry
Masonry

Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar , and the term "masonry" can also refer to the units themselves....
 load-bearing walls. It is located at .

The seventeen-story building stands 197 feet
Foot

The foot is an anatomical structure found in many animals. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of one or more segments or bones, generally including claws or nails....
 (60 meters) tall. The northern half was designed and built by Burnham & 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....
 in 1889–1891; the southern half was designed and built by Holabird & Roche
Holabird & Roche

The architect of Holabird & Roche was founded in Chicago in 1880. The firm rose to prominence under the leadership of William Holabird and Martin Roche....
 in 1891–1893. The building was designated a Chicago Landmark
Chicago Landmark

Chicago Landmark is a designation of the Mayor of Chicago and the Chicago City Council for historic buildings and other sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States....
 on November 14, 1973.

The northern half of the Monadnock represents the last Chicago skyscraper built using load-bearing wall
Load bearing wall

A load-bearing wall or bearing wall, is one in which a wall of a structure bears the weight and force resting upon it, conducting the vertical load from the upper structure to the foundation....
 construction; in order for the structure to support its own weight, the walls at the base of the structure are six feet (1.83 m) thick. The building was so heavy that it sank into the ground after it was built, requiring steps to be installed at the entrances. The walls then curve in slightly at the second story, and flare out at the top of the building, lending it a form similar to that of an Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
ian pylon
Pylon (architecture)

Pylon is the Greek term for a monumental gateway of an Ancient Egyptian architecture It consists of two tapering towers, each surmounted by a cornice, joined by a less elevated section which enclosed the entrance between them....
. Architect John Root
John Wellborn Root

John Wellborn Root was a significant United States of America architect who worked out of Chicago with Daniel Burnham. He was one of the founders of the Chicago school style....
's initial plans for the building included additional Egyptian embellishment, but the developer insisted that the building have no ornament.

The southern half of the building was built using the more technologically advanced steel frame
Steel frame

Steel frame usually refers to a building technique with a "skeleton frame" of vertical steel columns and horizontal I-beams, constructed in a rectangular grid to support the floors, roof and walls of a building which are all attached to the frame....
 construction, which allowed narrower piers and wider windows. The radical difference in construction between the two halves marks the building's place in architectural history at the end of one building tradition and the beginning of another.

The building's name is taken from the New Hampshire mountain
Mount Monadnock

Mount Monadnock, or Grand Monadnock, is the most prominent New England mountain peak south of the White Mountains and east of the Massachusetts Berkshires, and is the highest point in Cheshire County, New Hampshire....
 that gave its name to the geological term
Monadnock

A monadnock or inselberg is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain....
 indicating a freestanding mountain surrounded by a plain.

See also

  • Chicago architecture
    Chicago architecture

    The architecture of Chicago has influenced and reflected the history of American architecture. The city of Chicago, Illinois features prominent buildings in a variety of styles by many important architects....


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