This fascinating building is a world-wide attraction that features an art gallery, artisans shop, three floors of restaurants and shops, and 13 floors of balconies that surround the 160 foot rotunda. "Wait until you see it... It is no less than breathtaking," wrote the Chicago Tribune's Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic Paul Gapp about the James R.Thompson Center. Spectacular views abound from any vantage point, including the 72-foot diameter open cutout of the lobby which shows the 4,000 square foot lower Concourse level with its marble rosette center. Glass elevator shafts, glass-paneled walls and ceiling, and marble-inlay floors make this an ideal setting for impressive entertaining, elegant sit-down dinners, and perfect dance receptions. The building is one of Chicago's most popular sites for fundraisers, concerts, and other special events.

The building opened in May 1985 as the State of Illinois Center. It was re-dedicated in 1993 to honor former Illinois Governor James R. Thompson. The property takes up the entire block bounded by Randolph, Lake, Clark and LaSalle Streets, one of the 35 full-size city blocks within Chicago's Loop. In front of the Thompson Center is a sculpture, Monument With Standing Beast, by Jean Dubuffet. The JRTC is sometimes referred to as the State Building.

The JRTC was designed by Murphy/Helmut Jahn and called "outrageous" or "wonderful" by critics when it opened. The color of the street-level panels was compared to tomato soup. The 17-story, all-glass exterior does not reflect the building's function, and instead conveys an image of pure postmodernism; the effect is striking, especially from the Daley Center. Visitors to the JRTC's interior can see all seventeen floors layered partway around the building's immense skylit atrium. The open-plan offices on each floor are supposed to carry the message of "an open government in action."

Originally, the design called for curved, insulated (double paned) glass panels, but these were found to be prohibitively expensive. Flat, insulated glass had been suggested, but were dismissed by Jahn. Single-paned (non-insulated), curved glass panels were eventually used and resulted in the need for a more expensive air conditioning system, which remains very costly to operate and is insufficient on hot days (internal temperatures have reached as high as 90 degrees Fahrenheit). The marble floor of the atrium initially developed unsightly water stains, which have since resolved themselves.

James R. Thompson Center
100 W. Randolph Street, Chicago
(312) 814-6660