The John Hancock Center Tower, built in 1970, is 100 stories tall and located on N. Michigan Avenue. The structure contains 2.8 million square ft., 711 apartments, offices, restaurants, a swimming pool, and an ice skating rink. The exterior columns & spandrel beams create a structural "steel tube" that is reinforced by the clearly visible diagonal members and structural floors. The observation deck on the 94th floor offers excellent views of Chicago's skyline & Lake Michigan.
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The building was designed by Owings & Merrill Architects (now Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill). The firm received the American Institute of Architects' 1999 25-year award in recognition of the John Hancock Center's enduring design. We toured SOM's Manhattan office in 1986 as part of one of my 5th year college architectural design classes. It was quite exciting (and humbling) to see the inner workings of such an important and innovative architectural office.
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