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Inland Steel Building: Model of Final Design

A model of a 19-story office block and 25-story tower with green tinted glass curtain walls and stainless-steel mullions, or bars between the panes of glass.

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  • A model of a 19-story office block and 25-story tower with green tinted glass curtain walls and stainless-steel mullions, or bars between the panes of glass.

Date:

c. 1954/55

Artist:

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, architects; American, founded 1936
Bruce J. Graham, designer; American, (1925–2010)

About this artwork

As one of the first two high-rise buildings constructed in downtown Chicago after the Great Depression, this model represents part of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill’s push to reimagine the corporate office building, along with the Lever House in New York. The architects separated the functions of the Inland Steel Building into two towers: a 19-story office block and a 25-story service unit. As a result, the floor plans have no interior columns or partitions, allowing maximum flexibility and a bright new image of the modern office, with a green tinted-glass curtain wall and bright stainless-steel mullions.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Architecture and Design

Artist

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (Architect)

Title

Inland Steel Building: Model of Final Design

Place

Monroe Street, 30 West (Building address)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1949–1960

Medium

Mixed media model

Dimensions

Vitrine: 122.5 × 64.5 × 82 cm (48 1/4 × 25 3/8 × 32 1/4 in.); Base: 60 × 51 × 69 cm (23 5/8 × 20 1/8 × 27 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Ryerson Tull, Inc., Chicago

Reference Number

2001.572

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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