Franklin Center
Chicago's last great 20th-century skyscraper — 1,007 feet of postmodern ambition built specifically to stand apart from Willis Tower.
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Adrian D. Smith of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designed this 60-story tower in 1989 as AT&T's central-region headquarters. At 1,007 ft it is the tallest building Chicago raised in the entire last quarter of the 20th century and still the 6th tallest in the city — a concrete record of how corporations once planted themselves in skylines.
What to look for
- Three pronounced setbacks at floors 15, 30, and 45 — the stepped postmodern silhouette Smith deliberately used to differentiate the tower from the nearby Willis Tower
- The dual street address — 227 W Monroe Street and 100 S Franklin Street — marking its corner footprint two blocks east of the Chicago River
- Ground-floor retail at the base of a building containing 1.7 million sq ft of total floor space, built under a self-imposed 30% minority contracting commitment
Located at 227 W Monroe Street in the Loop; ground-floor retail is publicly accessible without entering the office floors.
Franklin Center is one of 37 sights worth the detour in Chicago, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Chicago pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Chicago
- Willis TowerIt held the world's tallest title for nearly 25 years after opening in 1973 — and the Skydeck is still the highest observation deck in the United States.
- Art Institute of ChicagoFour paintings you've seen your whole life — Nighthawks, La Grande Jatte, The Old Guitarist, American Gothic — hang in the same building.
- John Hancock Center (875 N Michigan Ave)A moving platform pivots you 30 degrees outward over the Magnificent Mile — 1,128 feet of nothing beneath your feet.
- Aon CenterWhen it opened in 1973 as "Big Stan," this 83-floor tower was the fourth-tallest building on Earth — and clad entirely in marble.
- United CenterThe Bulls hardwood floor is literally assembled over the Blackhawks ice and taken apart game by game — two teams, one frozen surface, shared by puzzle.
- Soldier FieldThe NFL's oldest stadium lost its National Historic Landmark status because of the renovation meant to save it.