875 North Michigan Avenue
- Architects
- Bruce Graham Fazlur Khan
- Year
- 1969
- City
- Chicago, IL
875 North Michigan Avenue - long known as the John Hancock Center - is a 100-story, 1,128-foot supertall skyscraper in the Magnificent Mile district, designed by chief designer Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. It topped out on May 6, 1968, as the second-tallest building in the world after the Empire State Building and the tallest in Chicago, combining offices, restaurants, and roughly 700 condominiums that at the time included the highest residence on Earth.
the building
A structural first. Structural engineer Fazlur Khan's tube system for the tower was a structural first, letting the building reach supertall height and setting a precedent for skyscraper engineering that followed.
Named for its first tenant. The building was originally named for the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company, its developer and original tenant, and is still commonly called the John Hancock Center despite its 875 North Michigan Avenue address name.
Highest address on Earth. At completion, the tower's roughly 700 condominiums included the highest residence in the world, stacked above offices and restaurants on the lower floors.
the style
875 North Michigan's high-tech style is built around its structural system: Fazlur Khan's tube design, which also let the tower reach supertall height, is part of what defines the building's engineered, systems-forward character.
More on Structuralism / High-Techthe architect
Bruce Graham, a Peruvian-American architect, served as chief designer, and Fazlur Rahman Khan, a Bangladeshi-American structural engineer, as structural engineer, both at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. The tower's tube structural system, a structural first credited to Khan, was among the most consequential of his career.
significance
At completion in 1968, the tower was the second-tallest building in the world and the tallest in Chicago. It remains the fifth-tallest building in Chicago and the fourteenth-tallest in the United States, ranking behind the Aon Center in Chicago and ahead of the Comcast Technology Center in Philadelphia.
nearby
- Palmolive Building
- Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago
- Chicago Avenue Pumping Station
- Drake Hotel
- 227 East Walton Place Apartment Building
- Chicago Water Tower