Chicago is one of the two places in the US that had tallest skyscrapers from the moment when the skyscrapers appeared and is considered to be the birthplace of the skyscraper because it was home of the Home Insurance Building, completed in 1885, the world's first steel-framed skyscraper. Here, we will talk about Chicago’s tallest skyscrapers:
Willis Tower is the tallest Chicago skyscraper. It was known as Sears Tower and it was finished in 1974 with height of 442m. It is the second-tallest building in the United States and the eighth-tallest freestanding structure in the world. Tower holds offices and an observation deck which makes it one of the most popular tourist destinations in Chicago with over one million people visiting each year.
Trump International Hotel and Tower was finished in 2009 and is 423m tall. It is a skyscraper condo-hotel in downtown Chicago named after Donald Trump. It bears a title of the tallest building completed in the United States in the 2000s. After it was finished it became the second-tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.
Aon Center (1973, 346m) was known as the Standard Oil Building for which headquarters was built. Today it holds headquarters of Aon's US operations. When it was finished it was the world's tallest building clad in marble. It was sheathed entirely with 43,000 slabs of Italian Carrara marble. It is now 5th-tallest building in the United States.
John Hancock Center (1969, 344m) was the tallest building in the world outside New York City when it was finished. It has offices, restaurants, and around 700 condominiums. Center was named after John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company, a developer and original tenant of the building.
Franklin Center North Tower (1989, 307m) was built to be the central region headquarters of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company and called after that AT&T Corporate Center. It was the tallest building constructed in Chicago in the last quarter of the 20th Century and today is the 11th tallest building in the United States.
Two Prudential Plaza (1990, 303m) was the world's tallest reinforced concrete building at the time of completion and the tallest building constructed in Chicago in the 1990s. Today it is the 13th-tallest building in the United States and holds mainly offices. It is connected to One Prudential Plaza, its sister building.
311 South Wacker Drive (1990, 293m) is the 16th tallest building in the United States. It is also famous for being the tallest building in the world known only by its street address. It has offices and apartments. When made was the tallest reinforced concrete building in the world.
900 North Michigan (1989, 265m) is today the eighth tallest building in Chicago and the 25th tallest building in the United States. It has 66 floors, tower is clad in limestone and green glass and contains a shopping mall, offices, a parking garage and a medical clinic. It has four characteristic "lanterns" atop the structure that are lit at night.