“John Wellborn Root’s the leading designer and theoretician among Chicago’s architects during the 1880s. He designed more skyscrapers than all those designed by the city’s other architects combined.
“Together with Daniel Burnham, the pair formed a perfect architectural entity: Burnham’s ambition and managerial expertise complemented Root’s design imagination, artistic abilities, and theoretical clarity. The pair also led the campaign of the Western Architectural Association to reform the AIA, that culminated in the consolidation of the two bodies in 1889. This experience had prepared them for the challenge of coordinating the design of the 1893 Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition.
“Root’s design centered around a Court of Honor, that framed the view of entering fairgoers out to the maritime liveliness in Lake Michigan, similar to how the Piazzetta San Marco does in Venice. He was also exploring how to use colored electric lights to exploit the translucency of the material planned for the buildings’ construction (staff: plaster reinforced with hemp). Unfortunately, these ideas died with his premature death due to pneumonia on January 12, 1891.”
