William Le Baron Jenney

About Jenney

Several articles, and one book, devoted to Jenney; not intended to be complete. Links lead to full pdfs, except for the French book, which has only a small part available from the publisher.

  • Turak, T. 1970. Jenney’s Lesser Works: Prelude to the Prairie Style. The Prairie School Review, 7: 5-20.
  • Turak, T. 1970. The École Centrale and Modern Architecture: The Education of William Le Baron Jenney. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 29: 40-47.
  • Condit, C.W. 1960. Iron Framing. Chap. II in American Building Art, 19th Century, Oxford University. Section 4 (pp. 50-63) “The Chicago School” is largely about Jenney. Entire book online at the Internet Archive.
  • Condit, C.W. 1964. Jenney and the New Structural Technique. Chap. IV (pp. 79-94) in Chicago School of Architecture, University of Chicago. Entire book online at the Internet Archive.
  • Turak, T. 1985. Remembrances of the Home Insurance Building. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 44: 60-65.
  • Turak, T. 1986. William Le Baron Jenney: a Pioneer of Modern Architecture. UMI Research Press, Ann Arbor. Entire book online at the Internet Archive.
  • Notz, J. 2007. A Memoir by William Le Baron Jenney: A man for all seasons. Chicago Literary Club [presented at Club, Jan 2007].
  • Barr, J. 2024. The People v. Jenney: Revisiting the Debate about the First Skyscraper. International Journal of High-Rise Buildings, 13: 1-9.
  • Belhoste, J.F. and I. Parizet. 2024. L’Invention du Gratte Ciel: William Le Baron Jenney á Chicaco. L’Harmattan, Paris. Short selection from publisher.
  • Leslie, T. 2024. ‘A Purely Practical Science:’ William Le Baron Jenney’s Contribution to American Building Culture. Pp. 639-660 in Parizet and Belhoste (2024). [T. Leslie kindly provided this English version.]

Jenney’s Writings

Taken from Turak (1986), Notz (2007), and The Chicago Architectural Club (W.R. Hasbrouck, 2005, Monicelli). There is a link to a pdf of Loring and Jenney (1869), but I have not located archives for the articles (mostly in Inland Architect). To be added: several from Leslie (2024).

  • Illustration of a Single Residence. Building News (Sep 18, 1868).
  • Illustration of Two Residences. American Builder and Journal of Art (October 15, 1869).
  • Principles and Practice of Architecture. Cobb, Pritchard and Co., 1869 (S. E. Loring is first author).
  • Lectures on Architecture. Inland Architect 1 (1883-1884): 18, 33ff. (Also presented at The Art Institute of Chicago.)
  • A City Residence. Inland Architect (1884) 2:100.
  • A Reform in Suburban Dwellings. Inland Architect 1 (1882): 2-3.
  • Construction of a Heavy Fireproof Building on Compressible Soil. Engineering Record, Building Record and the Sanitary Engineer (1885).
  • Evolution of Style (Presented at Chicago Architectural Sketch Club, March 1888).
  • A Few Practical Hints. Inland Architect 13 (1889): 8-9.
  • The Age of Steel and Clay. Inland Architect (1889), Vol. XVI, at p. 77.
  • A Few Practical Hints. Inland Architect 85 (1889). (Also presented at Chicago Architectural Sketch Club, Jan 1889.)
  • Steel in Building Construction. Inland Architect (1890). (Also presented at Chicago Architectural Sketch Club, Oct 1890).
  • American and Foreign Structural Steel. Inland Architect 15 (1890): 77.
  • Chicago Construction of Tall Buildings on Compressible Soil. Inland Architect 6 (1891): 100
  • A Talk on Architecture at the World’s Columbian Exposition. Inland Architect 21 (1893): 34-35.
  • Whistler and Old Sandy in the Fifties. American Architect and Building News 9 (1898): 4-5.
  • A Remarkable Dwelling. Inland Architect 47 (1906): 57-58.
  • Autobiography. Western Architect 10 (1907): 59-66
  • Scrapbook, in Chicago Microfilm Project of The Art Institute of Chicago (no date).