The John Hancock Center rises as a black, X-braced tower, tapering steadily from the ground to its roof. Engineers designed this massive diagonal steel exterior to hold the building up against the heavy winds off Lake Michigan, allowing the interior floors to remain open and flexible. In nineteen seventy, Bruce Graham and Fazlur Khan finished this structure, introducing a new way to build skyscrapers that required less steel than traditional frames. It remains a stark, geometric silhouette against the Chicago skyline.
John Hancock Center
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