John Wellborn Root, II, FAIA

Year Awarded: 1958
Born: January 10, 1850; Lumpkin, Georgia, USA
Died: 1891; Chicago,Illinois,USA


Projects
• 1880: Grannis Block
• 1885: Rookery Building
• 1887: Phoenix Building
• 1889: Monadnock Building, Chicago
• 1889: Reliance Building, ground floor only
• 1890: Equitable Building (later the Trust Company of Georgia Building), Atlanta
• 1891: World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago


Biography
John Root, who spent his early years in Atlanta, was sent by his family to Liverpool, England, after Atlanta fell in the U.S. Civil War. He returned to the U.S. in 1866 and in 1869 earned his civil engineering degree at New York University.

He worked briefly in New York City with James Renwick and with John Butler Snook as construction supervisor on Grand Central Station. In 1971 he moved to Chicago and worked for Carter, Drake, & Wight as head draftsman until 1973. At that time, he established a private practice with Daniel Burnham, a partnership that would last until his death 18 years later. Root was the firm’s designing partner.

In 1884 Root cofounded the Western Association of Architects (WAA) with Burnham, Dankmar Adler, and Louis Sullivan. The organization was created to compensate for what they felt was the preference of the American Institute of Architects for the interests of its East Coast members. The WAA formed chapters in several midwest and southern states and Root served as president in 1886. In 1887 Root also served as a director for the national AIA. Sharing goals and some members, the two groups decided in 1889 to merge under the AIA’s name.

Root was one of the founders of the Chicago style, and he documented this architectural movement in a number of publications. Root’s final project was serving on the architecture staff of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.