Boeing International Headquarters

The Boeing International Headquarters is a Postmodernist skyscraper designed by Perkins and Will, with Ralph Johnson as lead architect, and built between 1988 and 1990, for a reported $170 million dollars, in Chicago, IL.

Boeing International Headquarters is not the only name you might know this building by though. It is common for companies to want to attach their names to iconic buildings when they move in, or for the general public to come up with nicknames, and this one is no exception. The building has changed names several times over the years, and is also known as:

• Morton-Thiokol International Building between 1990 and 2001.
• Boeing Building.
• 100 North Riverside Plaza.

Its precise street address is 100 North Riverside Plaza, Chicago, IL. You can also find it on the map here.

The Boeing International Headquarters has received multiple architecture awards for its architectural design since 1990. The following is a list of such prizes and awards:

• Mosto Innovative Structure in 1990
• Special Award of Recognition, Architectural Concept and Desing in 1991
• Certificate of Merit Interior Architecture in 1991
• Distinguished Building Award. AIA in 1992
• National Honor Award. AIA in 1993

Perkins and Will, with Ralph Johnson as the lead architect, was the architecture firm in charge of the architectural design.

That being said, architecture is a complex discipline involving many professionals from different fields, without whom this building would have not been possible. We will surely be leaving out a lot of names here, but here is a list of the people we do know also played their part in making the Boeing International Headquarters a reality:

• Perkins & Will in charge of Structural Engineering
• Schal Associates, Inc. as the Main Contractor
• Enclos Corp. in charge of Facade Consultancy
• ORIX Real Estate Equities as the Main Developer

The Boeing International Headquarters can be categorized as a Postmodernist building.

The Boeing International Headquarters was completed in 1990. By 1990 the Postmodernism movement was experiencing a transition. Critics argued that Postmodernism, initially a rebellious and innovative style, had become formulaic and commercialized, and so the trend started moving away from blending historical styles, irony, and playful ornamentation, and begun to give way to emerging architectural trends concerned with more present matters such as technology, ecology or sustainability.

The Boeing International Headquarters uses a frame structure made of steel columns and steel and concrete slabs.

A frame structure uses a combination of beams and columns to sustain the building's weight. The walls in this case are non-load bearing, which allows for more flexibility when distributing the interior spaces.

The facade of the building however, is load bearing. This doesn't imply that it is a traditional load-bearing wall. Rather, it means that the structure's exterior pillars have been pushed to the very edges, becoming integrated with the facade, and therefore, technically, a part of it.

From an aesthetic point of view, the facade features dark-tinted glass in aluminum frames. The windows are organized by vertical and horizontal rows, clad in different shades of gray marble.