The Wrigley Building: The Making of an Icon

An in-depth look at America’s historic skyscraper and Chicago’s most iconic building.

This is the captivating story of the spectacular architecture of the century-old Wrigley Building—its design, construction, and enduring significance as one of Chicago’s most emblematic buildings. Through meticulous research and spectacular photography, the book unearths a century’s worth of architectural, social, and business history, shedding light on many aspects of the Wrigley Building for the first time.

The Wrigley represents the high-water mark of Beaux Arts Classicism in the city, a gleaming white palazzo at the head of Chicago’s grandest boulevard, Michigan Avenue. With lavish terra-cotta ornamentation, it was Chicago’s tallest building when it opened in 1921. The book focuses on the intertwined stories of William Wrigley Jr., the larger-than-life founder of the chewing gum empire, and Charles Gerhard Beersman, the relatively unknown architect who, mentored by architect Julia Morgan, brought the building to life.

With stunning new photography alongside archival images, renderings, and original blueprints and drawings, this volume is a must-have for any architecture enthusiast. It unveils a fresh perspective on this architectural marvel as well as a wealth of fascinating social history illuminating the building’s significance as more than just a structural landmark but as a nexus of Chicago’s cultural, social, and business evolution. The book incorporates multiple paper stocks and two gatefolds.

Robert Sharoff is a Chicago-based architectural writer and author. Tim Samuelson is a Chicago cultural historian and works for the city’s Commission on Chicago Landmarks. John Vinci is a Chicago-based American architect. William Zbaren is an architectural photographer for the New York Times, Architectural Record, and other publications.