John Wellborn Root (1850-1891)   Where did Root train and who did he work with? Why are his buildings considered so innovative? What did Root and Burnham design together? What did Root and Holabird design together?                Where did Root train and who did he work with? Root, who was a member of the Chicago School of architecture, trained in England, then moved to Chicago in 1872 and formed a partnership with Daniel Burnham. Root was the designing partner. Return to Top       Why are his buildings considered so innovative? John Welborn Root's buildings are considered so great because of their inventive materials, such as iron gridding in the foundation layer, which helped to spread out the weight of the building evenly. Also, he used flat tile arches in floors that made the building fireproof. Return to Top           What did Root and Burnham design together? Together they designed a wide variety of buildings around Chicago. The most famous works of this firm were Chicago office buildings which used skyscraper technology. Root's unusual work can be seen in the sixteen story Monadnock Building, the Rand-McNally Building, and the Montauk Building, which was unfortunately demolished in 1902. Also, together they designed the Rookery, in which the lobby was done later by Frank Lloyd Wright. Return to Top       What did Root and Holabird design together? They designed 333 North Michigan. Return to Top     BUILDINGS | ARCHITECTS | BASICS | GAMES | LINKS | BIBLIOGRAPHY | ABOUT US | EMAIL | HOME