Thompson Center – Helmut Jahn
The Helmut Jahn-designed center of state government is unabashedly Postmodern, with colorful details and a shape that references the dome of the state’s capitol. In addition to making a bold first impression, its design is intended to communicate a message. The openness and transparency of the building are meant to symbolize the state’s commitment to serving the people.
Tall, gridded walls face LaSalle and Lake streets, but on the other sides of the building, Jahn broke from the rigid straight lines of modernism. Hearkening back to the grand domes of earlier government structures, such as the state capitol in Springfield, the southeast profile of the Thompson Center is a slice of a hollow sphere, clad in curved blue glass and salmon-colored steel.
The populist Postmodernism continues inside. An enormous skylit rotunda, 160 feet in diameter and 13 stories high, is lined with balconies of open office space. A circular cutout in the floor, 72 feet in diameter, opens onto a large food court, a Department of Motor Vehicles office and corridors leading to nearby buildings. A steady flow of people move around on escalators and exposed elevators, enlivening the space.
