Constant-Désiré Despradelle’s Beacon of Progress

Perspective rendering of Constant-Désiré Despradelle’s Beacon of Progress project. He designed the project for the site of the 1893 World’s Fair that took place in Chicago, and it was meant to embody the genius of the American people.

He was possessed by the idea of a monument embodying the characteristics of American civilization, to be a memorial to the genius of the American people and a reminder of the glories of the Columbian Exposition in Jackson Park.

These words describe the feeling of Constant-Désiré Despradelle after he visited the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. The exposition saw an entire complex of temporary buildings built in Jackson Park, only to be demolished after the fair. For Despradelle, Chicago needed a permanent monument to embody the spirit and grandeur of the fair. He set to work designing his vision, and the final result is pictured above. He sought to express the genius of the American people and the glories of the fair, and he did this by designing a massive, supertall obelisk. The entire design was based on verticality; he described it as the trunk of a mighty tree whose branches are lost in the clouds, but whose roots spread widely on all sides, uplifting the earth.

The design features a central obelisk that stands 457 meters (1,500 feet) tall, with a beacon of light at its summit. It rests on a massive plinth and is flanked by a dozen obelisks that surround it. The entire design is rife with Ancient Egyptian iconography, including the obelisks and various statues and figures that adorn the base. One interesting design feature is a slight inward slant to the obelisks at the base. This makes the design feel taller to those standing at its base, as if the entire structure is receding away from the viewer. The tapering of the obelisks themselves also contribute to this effect.

Section and plan drawings showing the interiors of the Beacon of Progress project by Constant-Désiré Despradelle.

A closer look at the section and floor plans shows an under-baked design. It’s clear from these drawings that the monument was designed with only the outside in mind, and afterward the interiors were stuffed with various uses. At the base is a group of entrance halls, sitting just below six auditoriums, all stacked on top of one another. These appear to be monumental halls which would most likely be filled with iconography of American history. The main auditorium also appears to be a massive elevator lobby, with eighty elevators leading to the floors above. The rest of the tower shaft houses offices of various sizes. At the tower summit is an office for a weather bureau.

Pictured below are two views of the tower base, which is no doubt where Despradelle invested the most time. It feels like an over-scaled mausoleum, the sheer size of which would instill a sense of the sublime into any visitor. It also feels like all the interior functions get in the way of his original intent. If this is a monument to the genius of the American people, why feel the need to include offices and a weather bureau on the inside? Why include profit mechanisms in a building meant as a monument? It creates an unnecessary tension that gets in the way of the object’s majesty.

Elevation showing the base of the Beacon of Progress project by Constant-Désiré Despradelle.

Perspective rendering of the base entry sequence of the Beacon of Progress project by Constant-Désiré Despradelle.

For some reason, an object this big doesn’t feel like the product of human technology. Maybe it’s because we’ve never built anything this big before. Maybe it’s because the amount of capital required to construct such an object would bankrupt any nation or state that attempts it. Still, there’s something seductive about the way Despradelle represents his design. There’s something super-human about it. It seems to occupy another time, when the heads of state were believed to be gods above men. I also get the feeling this was precisely Despradelle’s intent. This sense of awe was most likely what he wanted to evoke, in order to express the greatness of the American people.

Check out other posts about unbuilt architecture here.


Quotes and description of the monument taken from “The Beacon of Progress: A Monument to the Glory of the American People.” The Tech XX, no. 1 (4 October 1900): 6-8.