The Skyscraper and the White City: The Genius and the Tragedy of John Wellborn Root

In his new book, The Skyscraper and The White City, historian Gerald Larson documents the pivotal role played by Chicago architect John Wellborn Root in transforming the New York-developed technical systems of the elevator and iron frame construction to his city's unique context. During the 1880s, Root was the leader of "the Chicago School," a loosely affiliated group of architects who pursued the development of a modern, American style of architecture. As the architect in charge of the early design of the Chicago 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, Root was in the position to set the stage for a modern direction for the profession. Larson presents the first comprehensive study of Root's ideas for the Fair. Unfortunately, these plans died with their originator, as Root succumbed to pneumonia precisely at the moment the architects chosen to design the Fair's buildings came together in Chicago to begin their deliberations.

Gerald Larson is an architectural historian who has focused on the history of the skyscraper and the Chicago School of architecture. He has an M.Arch from the University of Michigan, and taught architectural design, structures, and history at the University of Cincinnati for over 40 years.