Tribune Tower in Chicago, IL

Tribune Tower in Chicago, Illinois, is a 36-story office tower built in 1925 for Chicago's Tribune Newspaper offices. Its winning design was inspired by the Butter Tower, a Gothic Cathedral in Rouen, France.

The building's design was selected through an international competition with 263 entries from architects representing 23 different countries. That competition gave Tribune Tower an unusually distinctive form: a tall office building shaped by a Gothic cathedral reference rather than a typical modern commercial block. The tower is also one of the stops on the Michigan Avenue Rendezvous tour, where it appears as stop 7 of 16.

Why does Tribune Tower have so many carved figures?

Tribune Tower's archway contains characters from Aesop's fables, along with carved references to the architects Howells and Hood. Look for a laughing man representing Howells and Robin Hood representing Hood.

Above the archway, two gargoyles represent Truth and Rumor. Truth appears on the left, speaking with open hands, while Rumor appears on the right, whispering through tight fingers. The gargoyles were originally made in 1925, and the tour description connects them with the general opinion of journalism.

What can you find at street level around Tribune Tower?

Tribune Tower's street-level exterior contains 150 embedded rocks, stones, and building materials from significant sites in the United States and other countries. These materials make the lower part of the building something to inspect closely, not simply a surface to photograph from across the street.

Walking around Tribune Tower lets you see and touch pieces connected to culturally significant sites around the world. The Michigan Avenue Rendezvous route uses the building as one of its documented stops, including these embedded materials as part of what makes the tower worth examining at close range.

How should you look at Tribune Tower?

Start by looking into the archway for the Aesop's fables characters and the references to Howells and Hood. Then look above the archway on both sides for the gargoyles representing Truth and Rumor, noting Truth's open hands on the left and Rumor's tight fingers on the right.

Finally, continue around the street-level exterior and inspect the embedded rocks, stones, and building materials. These details are a focused way to read Tribune Tower: from its carved archway, to its architectural references, to the international collection built into its lower exterior.