Thompson Center Competition
100 W Randolph
Chicago Loop
Does appearance alone define the value of a work of architecture? Is ugliness justification enough to demolish a public space? The Thompson Center has been criticized since its construction for being ugly, inefficient, and unconditioned. At the same time it houses one of the largest interior public spaces in Chicago, connects a dizzying array of transit, public services, and retail establishments, and has become, if not loved, accepted as a touchstone architectural design in a city filled with celebrated buildings.
The problem of the Thompson Center is a problem of surface and skin. If we divorce the envelope of the building from its program, then the radical public program of the interior is free to develop without being burdened by the symbolic overtones of its formal appearance.
Our proposal calls for encasing the Thompson Center in a cube of mirrored glass. During the day the building blends, chameleon-like, into its surroundings. At night the internal lights expose the original form and façade of the building, preserving the Center as a ghostly apparition. At the corner where the original building curves we insert an interior garden in the reveal between the old and new facades, blurring the distinction of interior and exterior.
The top of the cube becomes a park-like socle for a new tower slab to hold the office program. With the offices relocated in efficient space, the base of the building is reprogrammed with the public support spaces – conference centers, shops, auditoria, lounges, gyms – mediating between public and private.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
TEAM
Peter Randolph, Emily Koss, Karen Chow
RENDERINGS
Eastlake Studio
ABOUT THE COMPETITION
For the 2021 Chicago Prize, the Chicago Architecture Center and the Chicago Architectural Club call for new visions for the State of Illinois Center/James R. Thompson Center.
Designed by Helmut Jahn, the State of Illinois Center, also known as James R. Thompson Center, is facing the threat of complete demolition. Located in the Chicago “Loop” it is a major transportation node, commercial center and workspace. The building has been criticized for being ugly, oversized, inefficient, and poorly maintained. However, the Thompson Center has been pivotal to urban transit and a highly democratic contemporary civic center. At the time of its construction in 1985, Helmut Jahn’s State of Illinois Center was a stark contrast to Chicago’s historic and modernist architecture, yet today it is an architectural icon in its own right. For the fourth year in a row, the Thompson Center has been listed in the Landmarks Illinois’ annual Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois and it was included in Preservation Chicago’s Chicago 7 Most Endangered list in 2018, 2019, and 2020. The Chicago Architectural Club and the Chicago Architecture Center ask the 2021 Chicago Prize participants to envision a new life for the building through restorative architecture.
2021