John Hancock Center

1:4000 scale miniature paper model, about 4.5 inches tall

Since 1969 this building has been one of the most recognizable monoliths of the Chicago skyline. The sloping sides of the 100-story, 1127-foot tower are designed to deflect strong winds. Unlike many other skyscrapers the John Hancock Center is a multiy-use structure: combining offices, shops, apartments and parking in one building as a self-contained urban village. The John Hancock Center is the fourth-tallest building in Chicago after the Sears Tower, Trump Tower and AON Center.

Read more:

• The official John Hancock Observatory website
• Fazlur Khan, engineer of the tower
• WTB: the World's Tallest Buildings
• Nalyd's Skyscraper Page
• Building Blocks: The John Hancock Center, by Ezra Stoller, Princeton Architectural Press (2000)
• The Cloudbase Chronicles: Life at the Top, by Harry W. Budge III, Outskirts Press (2009)