1989 – 900 North Michigan, Chicago, Illinois

Architect: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates

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This 66-storey building gathers its meaning by incorporating distinctive elements of Chicago architecture. The structure, which is clad in a cream-coloured limestone and light reflective green glass, has a tripartite composition: the base is a street-defining mass, the middle or tower portion achieves the vertical striation, and the top terminates with four corner pavilions and lanterns.

The design honours Chicago’s tradition of scale and enclosure by placing volumes of low proportion directly along North Michigan Avenue. The exterior is sheathed in limestone and light reflective green glass.

The texture and rich detail of the base, composed of granite, marble and limestone, addresses the pedestrian. The portal of the building’s Michigan Avenue facade opens into a six-storey retail atrium shopping mall with a series of public spaces shaped by interpretative decorated surfaces. Situated above the retail base are the two public floors of the Chicago Four Seasons Hotel, 20 office floors, 17 hotel guest room floors, and 19 residential apartments on the top floors. Commonly referred to as the “Bloomingdale’s Building” because of the shopping mall’s anchor tenant.