The 1922 Chicago Tribune Competition produced some of the most important designs for the architecture of tall buildings including entries by Raymond Hood, Eliel Saarinen, Bruno Taut, Walter Gropius, Adolph Loos and others. Many of the unsuccessful entries submitted were built later in other cities or became the models for further architectural influence.

In 1980 a Late Entries invited competition was sponsored by Stanley Tigerman and others to revisit the ideas promoted in 1922. This coincided with a reappraisel of 60 years of Modernism. Participants were required to produce a single perspective drawing showing theior design.

Frank Israel from Los Angeles was one of those invited to submit and he asked John Ellis to collaborate. The result is a testament to the Tribune’s ambition to be a world class newspaper with an iconic globe as its beacon on the city skyline.