AUSTIN, TX.- The Wrigley Building: The Making of an Icon invites readers to rediscover that landmark through nearly four hundred pages of meticulously researched narrative and luminous photography.
Published by Rizzoli Electa in April 2025, the hardcover traces the skyscraper’s journey from early sketches to enduring civic emblem. Author Robert Sharoff, celebrated for his architectural profiles, collaborates with photographer William Zbaren, Chicago historian Tim Samuelson, and architect John Vinci. Their combined expertise positions the book at the intersection of scholarship and visual storytelling, ensuring both accuracy and accessibility.
Sharoff’s prose distills complex planning decisions into vivid anecdotes. He explains how William Wrigley Jr.’s desire for a “magnet on the river” spurred an unprecedented use of terra‑cotta and floodlighting. Samuelson’s commentaries add cultural depth, linking the building’s 1920s optimism to Chicago’s broader architectural renaissance. Vinci’s introduction frames the tower as “a beacon of modern commerce polished to a porcelain sheen,” situating it among global icons like the Chrysler Building and the Eiffel Tower. Zbaren’s photography completes the quartet, capturing dawn reflections on the Chicago River and intimate interior details that often escape casual observers.
Opening the volume feels like stepping onto Michigan Avenue at sunrise. Full‑bleed spreads showcase soaring aerials, while gatefolds reveal intricate clock‑face masonry. New images of the tower’s lantern—shot from scaffolding rarely accessible to the public—highlight craftsmanship that still gleams after a century. Archival photographs, blueprints, and advertising ephemera punctuate the contemporary views, illustrating how marketing ingenuity shaped public perception from the start.
The design team, led by graphic designer Cheryl Weese, layers these materials with generous white space and crisp typography, allowing each artifact to breathe. Paper stock alternates between heavyweight matte for historical documents and satin‑coated pages for Zbaren’s vivid color plates, creating a tactile rhythm that echoes the building’s alternating bands of brick and terra‑cotta.
Beyond aesthetics, the narrative chronicles every decisive moment—land acquisition, collaboration with architects Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, and the engineering innovations required to anchor the tower beside the river’s sharp bend. Sharoff describes how the decision to illuminate the façade every evening set new standards for corporate visibility, influencing skyscraper lighting around the world. Sidebars delve into related topics, such as the advent of tubular steel framing or the city’s 1923 zoning ordinance, enriching the central story without interrupting its flow.
A particularly engaging chapter explores the building’s role during the century‑long tenure of the William Wrigley Jr. Company. Archival memos reveal the gum magnate’s insistence that every executive office enjoy river views—an early nod to workplace well‑being that still resonates today. The book then traces subsequent renovations, including the 2014 restoration that replaced more than 26,000 damaged tiles, ensuring the tower’s brilliance for future generations.
At nine by eleven inches and 394 pages, the volume commands attention on any coffee table, yet its lay‑flat Smyth‑sewn binding encourages close study. A silk ribbon marker echoes the building’s signature blue clock hands, while the dust jacket’s spot‑gloss treatment mirrors evening floodlights. These thoughtful touches reinforce the authors’ argument that design excellence endures when form, function, and branding converge.
Sharoff and Samuelson embed quotations from period newspapers, enabling readers to experience opening‑day excitement first‑hand. One headline proclaims, “Brightest Star on the Boulevard,” and the authors note how that phrase became shorthand for the city’s post‑fire ambition. The tone remains celebratory yet rigorous, maintaining an academic standard through meticulous footnotes and a sixteen‑page bibliography.
The Wrigley Building: The Making of an Icon succeeds as an authoritative chronicle and a visual love letter to Chicago’s most recognizable tower. Scholars will value its archival revelations; architects will study its technical drawings; photography enthusiasts will linger over Zbaren’s golden‑hour compositions. Most of all, general readers will finish the book with renewed appreciation for a skyscraper that has welcomed generations of visitors with its luminous façade and steadfast clock.
Every page confirms the building’s status as a masterpiece of early twentieth‑century design and corporate vision. By blending engaging storytelling, scholarly rigor, and breathtaking images, the authors have produced a definitive volume that secures the Wrigley Building’s place in architectural history—and on the shelves of anyone passionate about the art of the skyline.
