An architectural rendering of a tall rectilinear building
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A skyscraper is rendered in fine, precisely drawn black lines, showing the profile of one side of the building. It appears as a grid thirty-one stories tall and five sections, or window bays wide. From the twentieth story up however, the building is narrower, shorter by one column of windows on the left side. The first floor is taller than the succeeding ones and has a series of four identical rectangular arches instead of the window bays. A balcony runs the width of the second floor, and ink washes beneath it and in the archways below indicate shadows and depth. Similar shorter balconies, beginning on the right and extending in for four window bays appear on the ninth and tenth floors. Again even shorter balconies appear on the sixteenth and seventeenth floors, starting on the left and extending rightward for the length of two window bays. The very top three floors also have balconies that start on the left and extend in for two sections, and all these similarly have washes below to indicate shadows. Lines jutting out from either side at places indicate the presence of other balconies on the sides of the building that are not shown.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
BRGA.10.2
People
Walter Gropius, German (Berlin, Germany 1883 - 1969 Boston, Mass., USA)
Adolf Meyer, German (Mechernich, Germany 1881 - 1929 Baltrum, Germany)
Title
Competition Entry for "Chicago Tribune" Tower, 1922: Elevation
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1922
Culture
German
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/225876

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Ink and wash on paper, mounted to board
Dimensions
151.5 x 75.8 cm (59 5/8 x 29 13/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Walter Gropius (1922-1969) gift; to the Busch-Reisinger Museum.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Gift of Walter Gropius
Object Number
BRGA.10.2
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Wayne Craven, American Art: History and Culture, Brown & Benchmark Publishers (Madison, WI, 1994), p. 396, fig. 27.8
  • Katherine Solomonson, The Chicago Tribune Tower Competition: Skyscraper Design and Cultural Change in the 1920s, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, UK, 2001), fig. 114
  • Kathleen James-Chakraborty and Eva Forgas, Bauhaus: Art as Life, exh. cat., Barbican Art Gallery and Koenig Books Ltd (London, 2012), p. 90, fig. 77, ill.

Exhibition History

  • From Werkbund to Bauhaus: Art and Design in Germany 1900-1934, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Cambridge, 05/12/1980 - 04/26/1980
  • Chicago Architecture: 1872-1922, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 08/25/1988 - 09/06/1988
  • Scenes de la Vie Future: Images of America in European Architecture, 1893-1960, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal, 06/14/1995 - 09/24/1995; City Art Centre, Edinburgh, 11/03/1995 - 01/08/1996; Centre de Cultura Contemporania, Barcelona, 02/19/1996 - 05/05/1996
  • At the End of the Century: One Hundred Years of Architecture, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Tokyo, 07/10/1998 - 09/06/1998; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Chicago, 11/24/1999 - 03/12/2000; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, 04/16/2000 - 09/24/2000
  • Bauhaus Modern, Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, 09/26/2008 - 12/17/2008
  • Bauhaus: Art as Life, Barbican Centre, London, 05/03/2012 - 08/12/2012
  • 32Q: 1520 Art in Germany Between the Wars (Interwar and Bauhaus), Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/16/2015 - 02/24/2016

Subjects and Contexts

  • The Bauhaus

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu