Built: 2002-2004 Cost: $225,000,000 Designed by: Pei, Cobb, Freed, and Partners Type: Skyscraper Stories: 48 Maximum Height: 679 feet / 207 meters Location: 71 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, United States
A shot across the bow of the forces of West Loop darkness. The Hyatt Center rises from amid an overgrown forest of skyscrapers to spread light through a part of Chicago that previously seemed in perpetual shadow.
The building takes the form of a smooth oval with indentations at its two most acute points. Those indentations seem to be the silvery skin of this tower peeling back to reveal the solid structure underneath.
The building is constructed around a core which bears much of the weight of the larger building, allowing large column-free spaces to extend outward from the center toward the windows. In some places, that run is as much as 45 feet in length, allowing great versatility in building out offices.
But it's that silvery skin that is the building's most valuable asset to people who don't have the privilege of working inside the tower. It sets it apart from many of its older, darker neighbors. Because the Hyatt Center is located on a very tight space along South Wacker Drive it casts mighty shadows on the streets below. But in some measure it makes up for that by reflecting an incredible amount of sunlight on the rest of the city. Even from afar, the building dazzles.
Designed by Henry Cobb
Commissioned by the Pritzker family; at the time Chicago's richest. Development was supervised by Penny Pritzker.
Landscape designer: Peter Schaudt
The shape of this building has been described as a "flattened football."
2002: Construction begins.
2004: Construction is completed.
October 7, 2006: The Chicago Tribune reports this building is for sale.
New York, United States
