Downtown / Willis Tower

Chicago is the site of the world's first skyscraper. In 1885 the Home Insurance building, designed by William Le Barron Jenney, was constructed at the corner of LaSalle and Adams Streets. It was nine stories high. A "skyscraper" is actually defined as a tall building constructed on a metal skeleton, with steel framework supporting the walls, floors and ceilings. A dispute was waged for a number of years whether the building was a true skyscraper, as the beams used were iron. Some architects doubted the skeleton actually supported the structure, and felt that the walls did so instead, as in earlier buildings. In 1931, when the building was razed, an architectural committee examined every step of the demolition and announced that the Home Insurance Building truly was the first modern skyscraper. Today, the Chicago skyline is an amazing array of skyscrapers of varying sizes and shapes, dominated byWillis Tower, which, rising 110 stories above the city streets, is one of the world's tallest buildings.