Since its inception in 1930, Century Tower was met with a largely positive reception in Chicago. While not as flashy or ornate as other skyscrapers in the Loop, the building was nevertheless appreciated for its vertical design and rare building materials.

One of the earliest receptions of Century Tower (at the time, called the Trustees System Service Building) is shown in a 1930 Chicago Evening Post article. The author discusses how “The romance of ancient Rome, with its mighty legions, and the Sahara Desert, with its burnoosed Arabs, lingers about the warm-toned red Numidian marble in the lobby of the Trustees System national headquarters.” The article goes on to describe the exclusivity of the material and how only two other American buildings “are fortunate enough to possess this rare relic of old Roman splendor.”

This specific reception of Century Tower is notable because it shows how, even from the beginning, Century Tower’s true purpose went unnoticed. Century Tower was constructed by the Trustees System Service, a bank known for financing loans for Midwestern farmers. As such, its design celebrates farmers, miners, and manual laborers of all kinds. Despite its ornate materials and appearance, Century Tower is meant to appeal to the everyday worker, not the elite. However, receptions of Century Tower across time fail to recognize this, instead focusing on the building’s lavish materials.

This confusion is shown in modern times in a Chicago Tribune article dated Sept. 13, 2009. In discussing the recent trend of historic Chicago buildings being converted into condos and apartments, author Pamela Dittmer McKuen uses Century Tower as an example. She describes the building as “appointed with decorative brickwork, massive amounts of marble and granite, carved brass elevator doors, ornate light fixtures and other fancy Art Deco trimmings.” As before, the building is reduced to its mere materials. Gwen Lux’s incredible reliefs are reduced to “decorative brickwork” and other significant elements such as Edgar Miller’s stunning grillework are left unmentioned.

This quotation also demonstrates another growing trend in Century Tower’s reception. Over time, the classical elements of Century Tower have gone largely unnoticed. Whereas the previous Chicago Evening Post article at least acknowledges Century Tower’s connection to Rome, this article fails to even mention the building’s numerous references to Ceres and Mercury.

Over time, the building has also become more disconnected with its original intended purpose. It is seldom mentioned that the building was originally meant to be a bank. This article, for example, focuses solely on the building’s new function as a condominium complex.
Another example can be found in a Chicago Tribune article on from Jan. 10, 2003. Author Sufiya Abdur-Rahman describes the building as “one of the Loop’s few Art-Deco office skyscrapers.” There are a number of issues with this description. First of all, the author never mentions the building’s original purpose as a bank for Midwestern farmers; this leaves many of the building’s features (like the Lux reliefs and the Miller grillework) without context. Secondly, this statement is just plain false. In 2003, Century Tower was an apartment building, not an office building. The article is riddled with other factual errors as well. For example, the author describes the marble that fills the lobby as “blood-red” when in fact it is a pale pink.

Factual errors are present in many receptions of Century Tower. Even the AIA Guide to Chicago gets some of its facts wrong. For example, it describes how “above the fourth floor, the brick is purple, shading lighter to the top, which is buff to match the sunburst terra-cotta ornament.” While the building does feature a gradation of dark to light brick, no brick on the building could be described as purple. Rather, the terra cotta used on the building’s facade gives it an orange or reddish appearance. These factual inaccuracies bring up an important yet unfortunate aspect of Century Tower’s reception. Too few people pay close attention to Century Tower. It goes largely unnoticed, overshadowed by similar, more historic buildings such as the Chicago Board of Trade building. This lack of focus breeds factual errors are there are too few people studying the building to identify and correct them.

Receptions of Century Tower from more academic sources tend to focus on the structure’s technological innovation. For example, in historian Carl Condit’s book Chicago 1910-29: Building, Planning, and Urban Technology, he describes Century Tower as “typical of the purified skyscraper with its vertical emphasis.” Century Tower’s height is a very important aspect of its reception over time. Century Tower may not seem very tall today, but back in 1930, it stood as the tallest reinforced concrete building in the world. As such, many early receptions of the building (as well as many modern academic receptions) take special note of the building’s height and the technological innovations that made its height possible.

For example, History of the Development of Building Construction in Chicago by Frank Alfred Randall and John D. Randall discusses engineer James B. Black’s contributions to the building. The book describes how “Empberger cast-iron columns were used in 20-story portions as cores for spiraled concrete columns[, and] steel columns were used under the tower portion.” It also discusses the building’s foundation on “hardpan caissons.” Form Follows Finance: Skyscrapers and Skylines in New York and Chicago by Carol Willis similarly focuses on Century Tower’s structural innovation. Specifically, she uses Century Tower as an example of the compact-core building plan which grew popular in the 1930s. This analysis of the structural aspects of Century Tower is a very unique aspect of its reception. It demonstrates the importance of Century Tower beyond its purpose as intended by the architects and patron. While its symbolism and aesthetic elements are certainly important, sources such as these remind us that Century Tower was an innovative and technologically advanced building in 1930.