2. General Discussion John Wellborn Root was born in Lumpkin, Georgia on January 10, 1850. After a brief life as both a successful architect and writer, he died in Chicago Illinois on January 15, 1891. Root first went to school in Atlanta, Georgia, then near Liverpool in England at Clare Mount School. He graduated in 1869 from New York University where he was educated as a civil engineer. At Renwick & Sands, an architectural firm in New York, Root was apprenticed for …showed first 75 words of 4271 total…

…showed last 75 words of 4271 total…Burnham of Chicago” 59). The Monadnock Building, considered Root’s masterpiece, is the tallest masonry building in Chicago. Now dwarfed by the surrounding buildings, the Monadnock’s immense brick walls still command attention. Burnham and Root were innovators in the design and construction of the skyscraper. After the Phoenix Building was demolished in 1959, the Rookery and Monadnock buildings became the only surviving Burnham and Root commercial buildings in Chicago (Slaton, 80). Both buildings are National Historic Landmarks.