| Richard J. Daley Center | |
|---|---|
 Richard J. Daley Center in 2006 | |
 | |
| Record height | |
| Tallest in Chicago from 1965 to 1969[I] | |
| Preceded by | Chicago Board of Trade Building |
| Surpassed by | John Hancock Center |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | International Style |
| Location | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Address | 55 West Randolph Street |
| Coordinates | 41°53′02″N 87°37′49″W / 41.88393°N 87.63020°W |
| Construction started | 1963 |
| Completed | 1965 |
| Height | |
| Architectural | 648 ft (198 m) |
| Roof | 648 ft (198 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 32 |
| Floor area | 1,465,000 square feet (136,100 m2)[1] |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Jacques Brownson C.F. Murphy Associates Skidmore Owings & Merrill Loebl, Schlossman, Bennett & Dart |
| Main contractor | American Bridge Company, Gust K. Newberg Construction Co.[2] |
| Website | |
| thedaleycenter | |
| References | |
| [3][2] | |
The Richard J. Daley Center, also known by its open courtyard Daley Plaza and named after longtime mayor Richard J. Daley, is the premier civic center of the City of Chicago in Illinois. The Center's modernist skyscraper primarily houses offices and courtrooms for the Cook County Circuit Courts, Cook County State's Attorney and additional office space for the City and the County. It is adjacent to the neoclassical City Hall-County Building, also on the plaza. The open granite-paved plaza used for gatherings, protests, and events is also the site of the Chicago Picasso, a gift to the city from the artist.
Situated on Randolph Street and Washington Street between Dearborn Street and Clark Street, the Richard J. Daley Center, with its "majestic" interior spaces, is considered a significant example of modernist Chicago architecture.[4] The main building was designed in the International Style of the Second Chicago School by Jacques Brownson of the firm C. F. Murphy Associates as supervising architects, with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Loebl, Schlossman, Bennett & Dart as associated architects,[5] and was completed in 1965.[3] At the time it was the tallest building in Chicago, but only held this title for four years until the John Hancock Center was completed. Originally known as the Chicago Civic Center, the building was renamed for Mayor Daley on December 27, 1976, seven days after his death in office.[6] The 648-foot (198 m), thirty-one story building features Cor-Ten, a self-weathering steel. Cor-Ten was designed to rust, actually strengthening the structure and giving the building its distinctive red and brown color. The Daley Center has 30 floors above its double height lobby, and is the tallest flat-roofed building in the world with fewer than 40 stories (a typical 648-foot (198 m) building, the height of Daley Canter, would have 50–60 stories).
- ^ "Richard J. Daley Center – The Skyscraper Center". Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Archived from the original on August 19, 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ a b "Richard J. Daley Center". SkyscraperPage.
- ^ a b "Richard J. Daley Center". The Skyscraper Center. Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- ^ Kamin, Blair. "An architecture critic sits on a jury at the Daley Center and sees its majesty with fresh eyes". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
- ^ "Chicago Civic Center: Perspective View of Plaza". Art Institute of Chicago. 1963. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
- ^ "Daley Center". Public Building Commission of Chicago. Retrieved September 11, 2009.