190 South LaSalle Street vs North Harbor Tower

190 South LaSalle Street
North Harbor Tower

Comparing the 190 South LaSalle Street and the North Harbor Tower is interesting because they both stand in Chicago, IL, and were completed just one year apart, but they were designed by different architects.

This offers a unique glimpse at how rival designers approached projects in the same city during the same era.

Height
175m
Floors
40

Height & Size

Height
169m
Floors
55

These two towers present an interesting contrast in their proportions. The 190 South LaSalle Street rises higher at 574ft (175m), while the North Harbor Tower reaches 554ft (169m). However, the North Harbor Tower accommodates more floors with 55 levels above ground, compared to 40 floors in the 190 South LaSalle Street.

This suggests different approaches to interior space design. The 190 South LaSalle Street has an average floor-to-floor height of approximately 4.4m, while the North Harbor Tower has more compact floors averaging around 3.1m each. The taller building's more generous floor heights might indicate grander interior spaces, higher ceilings, or different programmatic requirements.

These different proportions likely reflect the specific needs each building was designed to serve, whether driven by zoning regulations, client requirements, or the intended use of the spaces within. The contrast shows how architects can achieve different spatial experiences even when working with similar overall building scales.

Style
Postmodernism

Architectural Style

Style
Postmodernism

Both the 190 South LaSalle Street and the North Harbor Tower were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Postmodernism style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So both Johnson/Burgee Architects and Fujikawa Johnson & Associates followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

Main use
Commercial

Uses

Main use
Residential

The 190 South LaSalle Street is primarily commercial, while the North Harbor Tower is primarily residential.

The North Harbor Tower offers 600 residential units.

Both towers provide significant parking capacity, with 190 South LaSalle Street offering 55 spaces and the North Harbor Tower offering 404.

Structure
Frame
Facade
Modular

Structure & Facade

Structure
Frame
Facade
Window Wall

Both towers share the same structural solution, a Frame system.

A frame structure uses a grid of columns and beams to carry the building's loads. This frees the walls from structural duties, allowing for flexible floor plans and larger windows.

However, when it comes to the facade, both buildings use different approaches. The 190 South LaSalle Street uses a Modular facade, while the North Harbor Tower uses a Window Wall facade.

A Modular facade like the one seen in the 190 South LaSalle Street employs prefabricated panels, often mixing solid surfaces with smaller windows, while a window-wall facade like the one seen in the North Harbor Tower uses panels fitted between floor slabs, leaving slab edges visible.

190 South LaSalle Street North Harbor Tower
Johnson/Burgee Architects Architect Fujikawa Johnson & Associates
1987 Year Completed 1988
Postmodernism Architectural Style Postmodernism
Commercial Current Use Residential
40 Floors Above Ground 55
175 m Height (m) 169 m
Frame Structure Type Frame
Steel Vertical Structure Material Concrete
Steel, Concrete Horizontal Structure Material Concrete
No Facade Structural? Yes
Turner Construction Company Main Contractor Metropolitan Structues Inc.
Cohen Barreto Marchertas Structural Engineer Alfred Benesch & Company
IL State IL
Chicago City Chicago
190 South LaSalle Street Address 175 North Harbor Drive