Holabird & Roche
The architectural firm of Holabird & Root was founded in Chicago in 1880. Over the years, the firm's designs have changed many times — from the Chicago School to Art Deco to Modern Architecture to Sustainable Architecture.
History
The original founders were William Holabird and Ossian Cole Simonds under the name Holabird & Simonds. The firm's first project was the plan of Graceland Cemetery as an early commission. Martin Roche joined soon after the original project. After only working together on five projects, Ossian Simonds left the firm in 1883 to pursue a career as a landscape architect. In response to Simonds departure, the firm was renamed Holabird & Roche: after the two remaining architects. William Holabird and Martin Roche had worked in the office of William LeBaron Jenney before striking out on their own. The new firm became well-known in part for its groundbreaking Chicago School skyscrapers of the 19th century and the large, ornate hotels they designed across the country, including Chicago's Palmer House.
After the deaths of William Holabird and Martin Roche, the firm was renamed Holabird & Root — a partnership of Holabird's son John Augur Holabird and John Wellborn Root, Jr. The firm is still currently in operation located in the Marquette Building.
Selected buildings
- Graceland Cemetery Chapel, 1888
- Fort Sheridan, 1890
- Monadnock Building (southern half), 1893
- Marquette Building, 1895
- McConnell Apartments, 1210 North Astor, Chicago, Illinois, 1897
- Gage Group Buildings, 1899
- Oliver Building, 1907 & 1920
- University Club of Chicago, 1908
- Cook County Courthouse/Chicago City Hall, 1910
- University of Illinois Ice Arena, 1913
- Muehlebach Hotel, 1915
- Memorial Stadium (Champaign), 1923
- Soldier Field, 1924
- Pedestals for Ivan Mestrovic's The Bowman and The Spearman statues, 1926
- Hilton Chicago Hotel, 1927
- Evanston Masonic Temple, Evanston, Illinois, 1927
- 333 North Michigan Building, Chicago, Illinois, 1928
- Palmolive Building, Chicago, 1929
- Chicago Daily News Building, Chicago, 1929
- Rand Tower, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1929
- Chicago Board of Trade Building, Chicago, 1930
- Mason City Public Library, Mason City, Iowa, 1939
- North Dakota State Capitol Building, Bismarck, North Dakota, 1934
- Hotel Statler, 1942
- Foster Walker Complex, Northwestern University, 1973
- Kersten Physics Teaching Center, University of Chicago, 1985
- Foellinger Auditorium gallery addition, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1985
- City of Davenport, Iowa, Skybridge, 2005
- Peninsula Players Theater, Fish Creek, Wisconsin, 2006
References
- Blaser, Werner. Chicago Architecture: Holabird & Root, 1880-1992. Basel; Boston: Birkhauser Verlag, 1992.
- Bruegmann, Robert. Holabird & Roche/Holabird & Root: An Illustrated Catalog of Works, 1880-1940. New York: Garland Publishing, 1991.
- Bruegmann, Robert. The Architects and the City: Holabird & Roche of Chicago, 1880-1918. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997.
External links