Cook County Administration Building

Identification

Map

Structure in general

Usage

Facts

• The small plaza to the west has an untitled sculpture by Joan Miró, usually likened to a woman with a fork in her head.
• Originally corporate offices, the Brunswick Building was taken over by Cook County for government offices and courtrooms.
• The Loop Pedway System makes makes a wide detour as it passes under the building, making room for several retail establishments.
• The façade above the base sweeps back slightly in a curve similar to that of the Monadnock Building, another landmark of engineering on Dearborn Street.
• Uses a tube-within-a-tube structural system: both the core and perimeter are hollow, rigid tubes which brace the building and allow column-free interiors. This design is an advance from the single tube used in The Plaza on Dewitt; further variations by the same engineer (Fazlur Khan of S.O.M.) gave rise to the John Hancock Center and Sears Tower.
• The gravitational force of the outer tube structure is transfered at the base to a set of massive perimeter columns.
• This office tower is located directly opposite the Richard J. Daley Center and is connected underground by pedway.
• This was the tallest concrete office building in Chicago when it was completed.