Quarry

In addition to the classical form of the column, the stepped, cubical form that the column rests upon is a reoccurring form in Loos's public designs. One of the earliest examples is a project for a department store in Alexandria, Egypt, designed in 1910. Although never built, it is clear that Loos was fond of the design, having kept a watercolor rendering on display in his house. llB The design combines classical motifs with this stepped pyramidal form that later becomes a prototype for many of his monumental designs. In the project for the Grand Hotel Babylon that was to be built in Nice, France or the design for Mexico City'S Town Hall, both designed in 1923, Loos uses these pyramidal forms as the fundamental design element in his designs. It has been suggested that these pyramidal plans relate to more ancient geometric forms, such as the Aztec pyramids or, in the case of the department store in Alexandria, a reference to Hellenism and the architecture of the Pharaohs. ll9 The base of the Tribune Column holds the most resemblance to his design for a mausoleum for the art historian, Max Dvorak, created in 1921. Maintaining a similar silhouette to Chicago's column, but executed on a much smaller scale, the mausoleum was to reach a total height of seven meters and be sheathed in black granite. The mausoleum is both a tomb and a monument and, like the use of classical idioms, something of the monumentality of the pyramid form spoke to Loos when designing public structures.

All ofLoos's public buildings make use of either or both classical elements or fine materials. Returning to his thoughts on classicism expressed in "Ornament and Education," Loos is using classical ornament as a way of bringing order into public spaces through the use of an architectural language that, according to Loos, is common to everyone. Loos did not suffer a relapse into classicism in 1922 while designing the Chicago Tribune Column, but rather continued to develop his ideas of public architecture and the monumentality that could be achieved in American skyscrapers.