One of the reasons why Gothic was chosen in early scrapers is because that's where they had precedence for tall buildings. The towers of Gothic cathedrals were really the only precedent that Western architects could look to that made sense to have something that gave people a strong and elegant vertical upthrust like that.

The Tribune Tower was never intended to be remarkable but to be the most beautiful building in the world as stipulated and to establish a context… which it did.

The value of the competition was mostly for the patron, the Tribune newspaper, who was using it to establish themselves as a civic institution in Chicago.

This building is a more literal expression of what you can do with a steel frame even though its covered up in Gothic dress... whereas this one goes straight up and down which you couldn't do without the steel frame.