Citadel Center

The Citadel Center is a Postmodernist skyscraper designed by Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura and built between 2000 and 2003, for a reported $185 million dollars, in Chicago, IL.

Citadel Center is not the only name you might know this building by though. The building is, or has also been known as Dearborn Center.

Its precise street address is 131 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL. You can also find it on the map here.

A limited edition of one of the most famous sculptures in the world, "Winged Victory of Samothrace", was exhibit on the lobby for many years, until 2018.

At the time of its completion in 2003 the Citadel Center incorporated solutions that were quite advanced at the time, these included the use of an elevated-floor pressurized plenum system, enabling effective underfloor air circulation and personalized climate control through diffusers mounted on the floor. It was the first time that this innovative approach, which enhances the well-being of occupants by ensuring a continuous supply of fresh air throughout the entire vertical space, was used in Chicago.

Research indicates that such measures contribute to a healthier and more conducive working environment, and also, contributed to the building getting the Energy Star certification and the LEED Gold award.

The building underwent a major restoration in 2018.

Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura was the architecture firm in charge of the architectural design.

Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura was in charge of the architectural design, however, architecture is a complex discipline, which usually involves 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 at the very least we know that there was one other part involved, that was Paul Beitler development co. as the Main Developer.

The Citadel Center can be categorized as a Postmodernist building.

The Citadel Center was completed in 2003. by 2003 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 Citadel Center uses a frame structure made of steel columns and reinforced 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 is non-load bearing either, as it is common in frame structure type buildings.

From an aesthetic point of view, the facade features a blue-colored, all glass, curtain wall that mirrors its surroundings.

The lobby is quite monumental, with super high 9-meter ceilings.