John Augur Holabird (1886–1945) was an American architect based in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Biography

John Augur Holabird was born in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

on May 4, 1886, the son of architect

William Holabird William Holabird (September 11, 1854 in Amenia, New York – July 19, 1923 in Evanston, Illinois) was an American architect. Holabird was the son of General Samuel B. Holabird and Mary Theodosia Grant. He studied at the United States Milit ...

. He was educated at

The Hill School The Hill School (commonly known as The Hill) is a coeducational preparatory boarding school located on a campus in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about northwest of Philadelphia. The Hill is part of the Ten Schools Admissions Organization (TSAO). ...

, then trained as an engineer, graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1907, with further study at the

Washington Barracks Fort Lesley J. McNair is a United States Army post located on the tip of Greenleaf Point, the peninsula that lies at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. To the peninsula's west is the Washington Chann ...

Engineering School in 1909. By 1913, he had completed study at Paris'

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...

, where he became friends with John Wellborn Root, Jr., the son of another famous Chicago architect. Holabird's father had formed the architectural firm

Holabird & Roche The architectural firm now known as Holabird & Root was founded in Chicago in 1880. Over the years, the firm has changed its name several times and adapted to the architectural style then current — from Chicago School to Art Deco to Modern ...

in Chicago in 1883, and the younger Holabird joined the firm in 1914. Following the deaths of William Holabird and Martin Roche in the late 1920s, John Holabird and John Wellborn Root, Jr., who had also joined the firm in 1914, became the named partners of

Holabird & Root The architectural firm now known as Holabird & Root was founded in Chicago in 1880. Over the years, the firm has changed its name several times and adapted to the architectural style then current — from Chicago School to Art Deco to Modern ...

. The firm became known for buildings in the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style, particularly Chicago skyscrapers, including 333 North Michigan Avenue, the

Palmolive Building The Palmolive Building, formerly the Playboy Building, is a 37-story Art Deco building at 919 N. Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Built by Holabird & Root, it was completed in 1929 and was home to the Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Corporation. The Palmol ...

, the Chicago Daily News Building, the

Chicago Board of Trade The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), established on April 3, 1848, is one of the world's oldest futures and options exchanges. On July 12, 2007, the CBOT merged with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) to form CME Group. CBOT and three other excha ...

, and the Henry Crown Field House. They also designed the North Dakota State Capitol building, among others. The firm weathered the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and is still active. Holabird died at St. Luke's Hospital in Chicago on May 4, 1945, just as victory was declared in Europe for World War II. His nephew, Bill Holabird, was named a partner in the firm in 1945, and John A. Holabird, Jr., became a partner in 1970.

Membership

Holabird was a member of the Chicago Planning Commission, a trustee of the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

, and a designer of the

Century of Progress Exposition A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Expositio ...

in Chicago (1933–34). Holabird served on the

U.S. Commission of Fine Arts The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States, and was established in 1910. The CFA has review (but not approval) authority over the "design and aesthetics" of all construction with ...

from 1976 to 1980.Thomas E. Luebke, ed., ''Civic Art: A Centennial History of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts'' (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, 2013): Appendix B, p. 546. The

Chicago History Museum Chicago History Museum is the museum of the Chicago Historical Society (CHS). The CHS was founded in 1856 to study and interpret Chicago's history. The museum has been located in Lincoln Park since the 1930s at 1601 North Clark Street at the in ...

houses collections of both Holabird & Roche and Holabird & Root. In 1937, Holabird was elected into the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

as an Associate member and became a full Academician in 1944.

Significant buildings

*Palmolive Building, 1929 *333 North Michigan Building, 1928 *

Chicago Board of Trade Building The Chicago Board of Trade Building is a 44-story, Art Deco skyscraper located in the Chicago Loop, standing at the foot of the LaSalle Street canyon. Built in 1930 for the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), it has served as the primary trading ve ...

, 1930 *

Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty ...

Building, 1929 *Chrysler Building at the

Century of Progress A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Expositi ...

1933–34 World's Fair *Evanston Masonic Temple, Evanston Illinois

Sources

* Bruegmann, Robert. ''Holabird & Roche/Holabird & Root: An Illustrated Catalog of Works, 1880–1940''. New York: Garland Publishing, 1991.

References

External links

Holabird & Root's current website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Holabird, John Augur 1886 births 1963 deaths Artists from Chicago Art Deco architects 20th-century American architects American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts The Hill School alumni Holabird & Root Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago) United States Military Academy alumni