Why can the Monadnock Building in Chicago (by Burnham and Root) be considered a precursor (pioneer, precursor, antecedent) of Modern Architecture?
a. Because it is heavily influenced by the Ecole des Beaux-Arts grand classical manner, a popularized version of the Second Empire mode, revealing "the full impact of Parisian taste on the American architectural establishment and the general public".
b. Because the building employed a structural system based on metal frame with decorative terracotta cladding and large bay windows, breaking free of masonry traditions altogether, and opening up "an entirely new world of delicate transparency and reflective planes" Despite its traditional masonry load-bearing walls, the design does not show a reference based on the conventional historicism, leading to an expression, through materials and structure, which is evident in its simple forms and "completely abstracted 'cornice', "combining "grim solemnity and stern utilitarianism"
c. Because it is a structure of great height, had an elevator and bay windows Utilized ornamentation associated with the Gothic revival; "an attempt to recall, if not to re-create, the moral tone, national integrity and high civilization supposedly represented by the English Perpendicular Gothic style of the 15th century"
