Also known as: Diamond Building Formerly: Stone Container Building Formerly: Associates Center Built: 1983-1984 Designed by: A. Epstein and Sons Type: Skyscraper Stories: 41 Maximum Height: 575 feet / 175 meters Location: 150 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, United States
O ne of Chicago's signature skyscrapers, what the Smurfit-Stone building lacks in height, it more than makes up for in style. Its gleaming white exterior is accented with dark pinstripes of windows. Its orientation embraces Lake Michigan just a few hundred yards away, while at the same time it's characteristic slanted roof mimics, mocks, or yearns to be part of the sailboat crowd in the nearby Chicago Harbor. The Citicorp Center in New York and other skyscrapers have experimented with slanted roofs. What makes the Smurfit-Stone building special is the orientation of the slant. The architects didn't merely take a square and cut a wedge out of it like a children's block. They cut it on an angle, using a simple subtractive motion to create a diamond shape in the sky. Closer examination reveals that it isn't even a simple diamond, but rather two nearly identical triangles, but that is a detail lost on most observers. What they delight in is the notion that the building is still not done inventing itself. That it is growing with a leading angle like a massive lily sprouting on the lakeshore. Others fail to see the beauty and whimsy intrinsic to this building. Instead, they see it as an affront to the other classic Chicago architecture on Michigan Avenue. But if not for those buildings that stand out, would not the Avenue's marble cliff seem that much more ordinary and under appreciated?
The building that used to be on this site was the John Crerar Library. The 14-story building was erected in 1920 and designed by Holabird and Roche.
One of the bogus "facts" sometimes presented by Chicago tour guides is that this building's sloping roof was designed to keep it's shadow from falling on a beach. This is incorrect. There isn't a beach anywhere near this building. There was a controversy over a building on Lake Shore Drive casting a shadow on the Ohio Street Beach in 2006, but that building was erected anyway with no alterations to its plan.
The top five floors of this building are empty and are not included in its official floor count.
Three years after its completion, this building played a central role in the film Adventures In Babysitting.
Distinctive roof and style
Thursday, November 19th, 2009 @ 7:53pm
Rating: Five stars. A great design that fits distinctly into the Chicago skyline with a great location to provide a proper view of its unique roof.
Brent Kampert
Sunday, October 11th, 2009 @ 1:49pm
Rating: Five stars. Now looking at the building from Millennium Park, one can see a great contrast with this building and Chicago's Trump Tower, but when looking from Buckingham Fountain, this building looks so much shorter to the other building than in 2007. With more taller buildings, it still stands out greatly in Chicago's Skyline. BCBS extension, 340 On The Park, Trump Tower Chicago, Aqua, 2 Pru, and Aon Center make it seem so much shorter, that the building has that angled power so it will not be missed or mistaken in the skyline. People will recognize Chicago on a foggy or cloudy day when the taller buildings are covered up in clouds or mist and see the building's angled roof and say "we are in Chicago".
J C Lennon
Sunday, May 17th, 2009 @ 9:21am
Rating: Five stars. It is so immediately recognizable as Chicago's skyline. We're lucky to have it. I also like the the urban myths that accompany it. Makes adults giggle. We need more of that--giggling, of course.
Kevin
Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 @ 9:06pm
Rating: Five stars. It's a beautiful building on the inside also. If your one of the lucky who've had a chance to work in the building, the view from the top floors overlooking the lake is beautiful.
Artur
Sunday, August 17th, 2008 @ 1:10pm
Rating: Four stars. Not only in Adventures in Babysitting, but this building is also rapidly showed in Cheaper by the Dozen.
Brent Kampert
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 @ 8:08pm
Rating: Five stars. I agree with Franz Hursker, because every time I go downtown, I get overwhelmed and excited!
Franz Hursker
Monday, May 19th, 2008 @ 1:56pm
Rating: Five stars. One of my favourite Chicago buildings. I always look forward to seeing it when I visit.
JL
Friday, November 2nd, 2007 @ 2:05am
Rating: Three stars. this is the quintissential midwestern gal visiting the city with big-80's hair (and she still thinks she looks great)
anne
Sunday, April 8th, 2007 @ 4:26am
Rating: Five stars. the prettiest building on the skyline. id love to visit it!
Xian
Monday, February 19th, 2007 @ 11:59pm
I still wish I never moved away from Chicago. What a beautiful skyline
Thomas Semesky
Monday, November 27th, 2006 @ 1:29pm
Rating: Five stars. This building with its diamond shaped top does stand out as you travel the lake front. When traveling into the city with first time visitors, they always comment on the building with the unusual roof. So I guess the designers accomplished one goal in drawing attention to it.
Brent Kampert
Sunday, November 5th, 2006 @ 6:12pm
Rating: Five stars. This is the best skyscraper in Chicago with it's slanted diamond shaped roof, you can see it from the planetarium, as a great skyline addition for Chicago.
Lala
Sunday, April 30th, 2006 @ 1:10am
Rating: Five stars. On April 30, 2006, I went to a wedding in the One Prudential Plaza. I had a great view of what I often call the "Adventures in Babysitting Building". I was really excited after I read the "Did you know" section about this building.
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Distinctive roof and style
Five stars.
Artur
Four stars.
Franz Hursker
Three stars.