People’s Choice Best Building 2024, (3) Monadnock Building vs. (14) Chicago Board of Trade

Known for its world-renowned architecture, Chicago has more than its fair share of stellar buildings and towers. From the Willis Tower downtown, to the Frederick C. Robie House out in the neighborhoods, famous architects keep coming back to put their mark on our skyline. We have dozens of iconic buildings around our city, but there can only be one that is the best!

In the spirit of March Madness, it’s time to figure out exactly which building is the favorite. With the bracket filled by all of you readers, it’s time to start voting!

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(3) Monadnock Building

Stats:

53 W. Jackson Blvd

Height: 215 feet

Constructed: 1891-1893

Architect: Burnham & Root, Holabird & Roche

Built in two phases, the Monadnock Building exhibits the shift from load-bearing masonry construction to steel frame construction. The northern half, designed by Burnham & Root, was built with load-bearing masonry, with walls reaching six feet in thickness at the base. Built just two years later, the southern half, designed by Holabird & Roche, features a brick and terracotta facade with bay windows. At the time of its completion, the Monadnock Building was the largest office building in the world.

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(14) Chicago Board of Trade

Stats:

141 W. Jackson Blvd

Height: 605 feet

Constructed: 1930

Architect: Holabird & Root

Designed in the late 1920s, the tower exhibits the Art Deco style that was so popular in that time period. The design features streamlined, geometric and abstract exterior ornamentation with a throne-shaped massing. A faceless aluminum statue of Ceres by artist John Storrs sits on top of the tower’s pyramidal roof. The Chicago Board of Trade is home to the world’s oldest futures and options exchange and was established in 1848 as the central location for negotiating and conducting transactions on the future price of commodities.

Cast your vote below!