Inland Steel Building

Address: 30 W. Monroe St. Year Built: 1956 - 1957 Architect: Skidmore, Owings and Merrill Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: October 7, 1998

This is one of the defining commercial high-rises of the post-World War II era of modern architecture. The use of stainless steel cladding is an eloquent testimony to the corporation that commissioned the building as its headquarters. The placement of all structural columns on the building's perimeter and the consolidation of elevators and other service functions in a separate tower allowed for a highly flexible interior floor layout. It was the first skyscraper to be built in the Loop following the Great Depression of the 1930s. Its principal designers were Bruce Graham and Walter Netsch of the SOM architecture firm.