The Chicago Columbus Tower
Advertising card from 1891 for the Chicago Columbus Tower. It was designed as the centerpiece of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.
Pictured above is the proposed Chicago Columbus Tower, which was designed to be the centerpiece of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. It was 455 meters (1,500 feet) tall and would’ve cost two million dollars at the time (roughly 62 million dollars today). It’s an elaborate and ambitious proposal that was meant to out-Eiffel the Eiffel Tower, which was built for the previous World’s Fair in 1889. As if to hit this point home, the above illustration includes height references to the Eiffel Tower and the Washington Monument, which would’ve been dwarfed by this new structure.
The building consisted of a massive 25,000-seat amphitheater in the base, topped with a 60 meter (200 foot) dome. Springing from this dome was a steel lattice tower that rose to the tower’s summit, upon which was placed a 10 meter (33 foot) globe. Visitors could take one of eighteen elevators to a height of 380 meters (1,250 feet) to the main observation deck. This would’ve been the tallest observation deck in the world by a long shot.
The multifunctional design for this tower sets it apart from most other Eiffel-inspired designs. The amphitheater injects a unique use into the lattice tower archetype, and with it, the architecture at the base becomes solid and historicist. It’s a mixture of Renaissance and Victorian detailing, topped with a customary dome. Above this is a modern, open lattice built of steel. At the top of the lattice tower is the globe. The overall result is a set of vertical elements that act as a metaphor for the tower and the World’s Fair itself. The World’s Fair was borne out of the history of human technology and innovation (the solid base) and it showcases current technologies of the day (the steel lattice). The result of this is the overall improvement of the human condition, which is symbolized by the globe at the summit. In effect, the architect was using verticality to express the values of the World’s Fair, and by making his tower the tallest in the world, he was expressing the technological progress made since the previous World’s Fair from 1889.
This proposal was one of a few tower designs put forward for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Taken together, they represent a perception that the United States must out-Eiffel France by building the world’s tallest tower. In effect, the United States, and ultimately the world, was competing with France by means of verticality. Having the tallest building in the world projects a sense of power and dominance over the rest of the world, and any country would be keen to have this power over others.
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Originally published in: Cutler, H.G.. The World’s Fair: It’s Meaning and Scope. Chicago: Star Publishing Company, 1891. 523-525.