Completed in 1969, the John Hancock Center is an outstanding example of Chicago’s Modern School of Design. The building was designed by Bruce Graham, architect, and Dr. Fazlur Kahn, engineer, of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Graham and Kahn designed a system whereby all the structural columns, beams and cross bracing remain on the exterior of the building, exuding the strength that defines the City of Broad Shoulders. The tapered form of the John Hancock Center, which narrows from 50,000 square feet at the base to 16,000 square feet on the top floor, lends itself to being Chicago’s first mixed-use skyscraper incorporating retail, commercial and residential space in one building at 1,127 feet tall.
