Until the Burnham Brothers joined C. Herrick Hammond in the partnership of Burnham and Hammond in 1933, the firm built a number of Chicago high rises, including the Bankers Building (1926), the City-State Building (1927), and the Engineering Building (1928), all classical, limestone and terra-cotta structures, historicist in their detailing. The Carbide and Carbon Building represents a departure from those designs in many respects.

When the New York based company, inventor of the dry-cell battery and originator of the Eveready brand name, decided to build, it looked for a "distinctive and perpetual advertisement for its occupants," according to a 1932 promotional booklet. It further noted: "The effect of such beauty in a building upon the morale of the people employed in it is unquestionably beneficial and inspiring; and to clients, business associates, and visitors, it is constant assurance that the organization they are dealing with are [sic] of the highest calibre."

According to the Western Architect (April 1930), the building's local prominence enabled the Burnham Brothers to secure the commission of the Cuneo Building--another skyscraper of contrasting colors--which was planned in mid-1929 for the northeast corner of Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street and was intended to be 657 feet tall, or sixty stories high! However, the Stock Market Crash of October 1929 and the Great Depression that followed forced the cancellation of that project, as they did so many other high rises being planned.