Chicago's Overlooked Postmodern Architecture

Postmodern architecture has largely been overlooked in recent years, left behind by current fashion, but not quite old enough to gain the attention of preservationists. Even in the architectural hot spot of Chicago, postmodern buildings tend to go unnoticed in favor of the Miesian towers and Prairie Style houses. ArchDaily’s own feature of notable Chicago buildings was noticeably lacking a postmodern example. To correct this oversight Metropolis Magazine has compiled a collection of Chicago’s most noteworthy examples of Postmodernism.

333 West Wacker Drive (center) and 225 West Wacker Drive (left of center), both by Kohn Pedersen Fox. Image © flickr user snjr22, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

The article prominently features the work of Stanley Tigerman, as well as notable works from a wide variety of architects including Weese Seegers Hickey Weese (now Weese Langley Weese); Ross Barney + Jankowski; Helmut Jahn; Kohn Pedersen Fox; Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates; Kisho Kurokawa; Hammond, Beeby & Babka; Nagle Hartray & Associates; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; and Johnson/Burgee. Among the buildings featured are a parking garage modeled after the grille of a Rolls-Royce, the divisively neoclassical Harold Washington Library Center, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s favorite building, 333 Wacker Drive, which he describes as “an incredible reflection of the city.”

Read Metropolis’ full list of Chicago’s stand-out postmodernism here.

About this author
Cite: David Douglass-Jaimes. "Chicago's Overlooked Postmodern Architecture" 28 Nov 2015. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/777855/chicagos-overlooked-postmodern-architecture> ISSN 0719-8884

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