A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least 100 meters (330 ft) or 150 meters (490 ft) in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise buildings. Historically, the term first referred to buildings at least 10 stories high when these types of buildings began to be constructed in the 1880s. Skyscrapers may host offices, hotels, residential spaces, and retail spaces.
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is an international body in the field of tall buildings, including skyscrapers, and sustainable urban design. A non-profit organization based at the Monroe Building in Chicago, Illinois, United States, the CTBUH announces the title of "The World's Tallest Building" and is widely considered to be an authority on the official height of tall buildings. Its stated mission is to study and report "on all aspects of the planning, design, and construction of tall buildings."
The Franklin Center is a 60-story supertall skyscraper in the Loop neighborhood of downtown Chicago. Completed in 1989 as the AT&T Corporate Center to consolidate the central region headquarters of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T), it stands at a height of 1,007 ft (307 m) and contains 1.7 million sq ft (160,000 m2) of floor space. It is located two blocks east of the Chicago River and northeast of the Willis Tower with a main address of 227 West Monroe Street and an alternate address of 100 South Franklin Street.
311 South Wacker Drive is a post-modern 65-story skyscraper located in Chicago, Illinois, and completed in 1990. At 961 feet tall, it is the ninth-tallest building in Chicago and the 36th tallest in the United States. It was once the tallest reinforced concrete building in the world. 311 South Wacker was also the tallest building in the world known only by its street address, until it was surpassed in height by New York's 432 Park Avenue in 2015.
Chase Tower, located in the Chicago Loop area of Chicago, in the U.S. state of Illinois at 10 South Dearborn Street, is a 60-story skyscraper completed in 1969. At 850 feet tall, it is the fourteenth-tallest building in Chicago and the tallest building inside the Chicago 'L' Loop elevated tracks, and, as of May 2022, the 66th-tallest in the United States. JPMorgan Chase has its U.S. and Canada commercial and retail banking headquarters here. The building is also the headquarters of Exelon. The building and its plaza occupy the entire block bounded by Clark, Dearborn, Madison, and Monroe streets.
Park Tower is a skyscraper located at 800 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. Completed in 2000 and standing at 844 feet (257 m) tall with 70 floors — 67 floors for practical use, it is the twelfth-tallest building in Chicago, the 43rd-tallest building in the United States, and the 83rd-tallest in the world by architectural detail. It is one of the world's tallest buildings to be clad with architectural precast concrete. It is one of the tallest non-steel framed structures in the world—it is a cast-in-place concrete framed structure. This building was originally intended to be 650 ft (200 m) tall. But later, the ceiling heights were increased allowing it to reach 844 ft (257 m).
Lakeshore East is a master-planned mixed use urban development being built by the Magellan Development Group in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located in the northeastern part of the Loop, which, along with Illinois Center, is called the New Eastside. The development is bordered by Wacker Drive to the north, Columbus Drive to the west, Lake Shore Drive to the east, and East Randolph Street to the south. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill created the master plan for the area. The development, which had been scheduled for completion in 2011, was set for completion in 2013 by 2008. Development continued with revised plans for more buildings in 2018 and continuing construction of the Vista Tower in 2019.
Mather Tower is a Neo-Gothic, terra cotta-clad high-rise structure in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is located at 75 East Wacker Drive in the downtown "loop" area, adjacent to the Chicago River.
Accenture Tower is a 42-story, 588-foot (180 m) skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. Located between Clinton and Canal Streets on Madison Street, the structure was designed by the architecture firm Murphy/Jahn in a late modernist style. The building, previously named the Northwestern Atrium Center and Citigroup Center, was constructed between 1984 and 1987 on the air rights obtained by the destruction of the head house of the 1911 North Western Station. The building contains retail and offices, and is connected to the platforms of Ogilvie Transportation Center.
The building form most closely associated with New York City is the skyscraper, which has shifted many commercial and residential districts from low-rise to high-rise. Surrounded mostly by water, the city has amassed one of the largest and most varied collection of skyscrapers in the world.
The Heritage at Millennium Park, located at 130 N. Garland Court in Chicago, Illinois is a mixed-use tower. Completed in 2005, with a height of 631 feet (192 m) and 57 floors, the building was designed by the architectural firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz. It is the 36th-tallest building in Chicago. Like many newer buildings, the Heritage preserves and makes use of the façades of four existing buildings in its base.
340 on the Park is a residential tower in the Lakeshore East development of the neighborhood of New Eastside/ East Loop Chicago completed in 2007. The building was the tallest all-residential building in Chicago until the completion of One Museum Park.
Absolute World is a residential condominium twin tower skyscraper complex in the five-tower Absolute City Centre development in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The project was built by Fernbrook Homes and Cityzen Development Group. With the first three towers completed, the last two towers were topped off at 50 and 56 storeys.
Grant Thornton Tower is an office tower located in Chicago designed by the firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates. Before completion in 1990 the twin tower design was awarded The Chicago Athenaeum's "Best Building" Architecture Award, the award was received by one of the lead designers Kevin Flanagan. . The fifty-storey building rises 756 feet in the Loop and was completed in 1992, on the site of Chicago's Greyhound Bus Station. Previously, a structure at 111 West Washington was known as the Chicago Title & Trust Building. After CT&T moved to the new tower in 1992, its former home became known as the Burnham Center.
The Leo Burnett Building, located on 35 West Wacker Drive at North Dearborn Street in the Chicago Loop, is a 50-story, 635 foot tall skyscraper above the Chicago River's Main Stem on the southern bank. When built in 1989, it was the 12th tallest structure in Chicago. It was designed by Kevin Roche-John Dinkeloo and Associates and Shaw & Associates. It is a postmodern design made with granite, masonry, glass, steel and concrete. The windows are divided by stainless steel bars, which is typical of "Chicago windows."
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG), an architecture firm and design firm based in Chicago, is engaged in the design and development of energy-efficient and sustainable architecture. AS+GG designs buildings, cities, masterplans and components of these, for an international clientele, with projects located throughout the world. The primary uses of these designs are civic, commercial, cultural, hospitality, residential and mixed-use. AS+GG also specializes in supertall skyscrapers, such as the Jeddah Tower, which will overtake the Burj Khalifa as the world's tallest building when completed.
Harris Bank Addition II is a 510 ft (160 m) tall skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It was completed in 1974 and has 38 floors. Skidmore, Owings and Merrill designed the building in the International style which is the 83rd tallest in Chicago and has 592,000 sq ft (55,000 m2) of floor space. It houses offices and a branch for BMO Harris Bank. The building is located at the southeast corner of Monroe and LaSalle Streets and is set back from the property line of Monroe Street to allow a small plaza and fountain.
