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Chicago is the birthplace of the stunning skyscraper. Always in the shadow of its taller brethren, the John Hancock Center is still a familiar icon of the Windy City.
While visiting some friends, I was invited on a driving tour of the city, topped off with an stopover at the John Hancock Centre. The scale of the tower isn’t anything I had seen before; at 100 stories tall, the tower seemingly anchors the Streeterville neighbourhood to the rest of the city. The charcoal-coloured x-shaped frame is unique so that the structure can survive strong winds or the shaking of an earthquake.
We drove around the block to get a sense of the building, but more so to find a way in. Next door, an almost endless spiral ramp circles up and crosses into the skyscraper itself. What a peculiar way to park your vehicle! Instead of constructing a complex garage on an adjacent property, the parking space is inside the John Hancock Center.
After finding an empty spot and gawking at the fees, we took an elevator down to the lobby. Unlike a conventional tower, taking the elevator from one floor to another isn’t as easy as you’d think. First we had to take an elevator down from the parking level to the lobby, then we had to take an express elevator from the lobby to the upper floors. Anything else would be a painfully prolonged wait – stopping at every floor to collect people. There is an observation deck on the 94th floor, although our destination was one floor higher: the Signature Room at the 95th. What’s a better way to end your day than with a couple of drinks over a wonderful view?
There’s no way I can accurately describe the panorama from the top aside from breathtaking. With floor-to-ceiling windows wrapping around the restaurant and tables adjacent to the glass, it’s truly a spectacular sight to behold. An endless expanse of civilization dotted with other glistening pinnacles, ribbons of traffic, homely forests and seas of turquoise. I’m not exactly a fan of heights, so I avoided getting too close to the windows – even knowing that the glass wouldn’t give way that easily.
Take a relaxing break at the John Hancock Center; enjoy a drink or two and take in the miles of magnificent Chicago stretching out from beneath you. It’s something I won’t forget.
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