Olympia Centre
At 725 feet, Chicago's tallest mid-block tower pulls off a quiet trick: it narrows as it climbs, switching from offices to condos and leaving a granite seam you can read from the street.
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Skidmore, Owings & Merrill stacked three distinct programs into one shaft — Neiman Marcus at the base, commercial offices through floor 23, private condominiums from floor 24 to 63 — and clad the whole thing in Swedish granite that was finished in Italy before crossing the Atlantic. The result is a 1980s high-rise with more material biography than most.
What to look for
- The Swedish granite exterior — trace the seams where the stone panels meet; the material was quarried in Sweden and finished in Italy
- The visible narrowing of the tower above the office floors, where the residential section steps back from the wider base
- The Neiman Marcus retail frontage anchoring the ground-level retail zone
A mixed-use building open to the public at street level through the retail entrance; the Consulate-General of Japan occupies Suite 1100 if you have consular business.
Olympia Centre 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.