Free Essay On Reading Reflection

Chicago does not lack when it comes to tall skyscrapers. One of the tallest and largest office building in Chicago is Willis Tower and it is built according to the international plan bring forth by Hitchcock and Johnson and the design is inspired by a pack of cigarettes. The principles of the International Style include architecture as volume, meaning instead of solid mass thin planes are used to create the building’s form; no fancy embellishment; and regularity in the veneer in place of focusing the symmetry. Chicago Board of Trade Building is built on LaSalle Street and its design is a slight variation of the Art Deco design. Tribune Tower lies along the famous river and it is a product of the revival of gothic art in the new world. Flying buttresses, pointed arches, and vertical emphasis is the hallmark of this building. Built in 1967 Marina City is a fine piece of mid-century modern architecture. It has fewer 90-degree angles than the International Style buildings and its skeleton also includes poured concrete instead of simple steel. Like international style, there is no applied ornamentation and the structure’s shape is inspired by nature.
            Julian Ralph expressed his opinion regarding the skyscrapers of Chicago.  Most of the people at that time, Ralph mentioned, were suggesting that Chicago probably would not be in need of more skyscrapers. However, Ralph also noted the almost prophetic views of a business man suggesting that the city’s thirst for skyscraper is not going to extinguish anytime soon. Obviously, history proved that the businessman was right and the city experienced many new skyscrapers and the extension of many old ones. Ralph also comments on the architecture and building techniques of the Chicago skyscrapers and he called them the Chicago method.
            It is very easy to relate to what the author of the primary source describing about the crowing of streets when the workforce of the skyscrapers left for their home in the evening. On a personal note the scene described by the author about the flood of masses and traffic James is quite easy to witness if one goes near to those skyscrapers constituted of office chambers. 

Works Cited

"Chicago Architecture Foundation's Skyline Stories." Skyline Stories. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2015.
Ralph, Julian. "Julian Ralph Marvels at the Electricity andSkyscrapers in High-Speed Chicago." Major Problems in American Urban andSuburban History. Ed. Howard P. Chudacoff. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2005. 263-65. Print.