documenting chicago tribune tower and printing plant over weekend

latest images documenting chicago tribune tower (howells and hood, 1925) and jarvis hunt's printing plant (1929).
the plant housed the printing presses below the newsroom, located on the top floor. the tower was primarily used for office space and mccormick's lavish rooms and personal office.

i was amazed at the amount of exterior bedford limestone (original and recreated) piled up around the swing stages, where i documented scale, surface patina, markings, and so on my telephoto lens. if i recall correctly, the bedford stone steamworks supplied the stone for the tribune building.

i included before and after images of the printing plant undergoing partial demolition. i noticed a massive girder with the original "american bridge company" in bold white lettering partially hidden deep within the array of exposed riveted joint steel columns and beams.

there's a great deal of visual information to process after carefully reviewing some of the demolition images i took of the steel framing the other day. i find myself repeatedly paging through and reading about methods and materials sourced from my collection of early 20th century books on skyscraper construction. i distinctly recall spending nearly a week fixated on phoenix columns when researching adler and sullivan's schiller building. it can be terribly time-consuming, but when i revisit the site, i will have a better understanding of reverse engineering through its deconstruction/demolition.

note: "skyscrapers: and the men who build them" by w.a. starrett is a must-read for anyone interested in a detailed analysis of materials and methods used to construct 19th and early 20th century skyscrapers in chicago and new york city.

further reading: