CNA Center

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CNA Center
CNA Center's unusual red exterior
General information
Status	Complete
Type	Office
Location	333 S Wabash Ave Chicago IL 60604 United States
Coordinates	41°52.6330′N 87°37.5422′W / 41.8772167°N 87.6257033°W / 41.8772167; -87.6257033Coordinates: 41°52.6330′N 87°37.5422′W / 41.8772167°N 87.6257033°W / 41.8772167; -87.6257033
Construction started	March 1970^[1]
Completed	1972^[1]
Opening	1973
Height
Roof	600 ft (183 m)^[1]
Technical details
Floor count	44
Floor area	1,299,990 sq ft (120,773 m²)
Design and construction
Architect	Graham, Anderson, Probst & White

CNA Center is a 600-ft (183 m), 44-story high-rise building located at 333 South Wabash Avenue in the Loop Community Area of Chicago.

Description

CNA Center is a simple, rectangular International Style building, but it is unique in that the entire building was painted bright red by Eagle Painting & Maintenance Company, Inc., turning an otherwise ordinary-looking structure into one of the most eye-catching buildings in the city. It was designed by the firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White and was completed in 1972. The red design was used to depict the sun setting over the ocean as illustrated by the red imagery to the west of Lake Michigan.

History

Originally known as Continental Center III, in reference to the original moniker of CNA Financial Corporation, Continental National American Group,^[2] both CNA Center (formerly CNA Plaza) and the neighboring CNA Center North (Continental Center II, built in 1962) adjoined and were painted red. The shorter red building was later restored to its original gray tone. The two buildings remain joined at the second floor: CNA's Conference Center uses space on that floor, but all entrance and egress to it is through CNA Center.

In 1999, a large fragment of a window fell from the building and killed a woman walking with her child. CNA Financial, a property insurance company, later paid $18 million to settle the resultant lawsuit. All of the building's windows were replaced in an expensive retrofit. To this day, the firm physically checks each window monthly. Many other building owners in Chicago have checked their windows for soundness, leading to a flurry of repairs and replacements.

Lighted window messages

Chicago skyline with the CNA Center showing the Chicago Blackhawks' logo, the Smurfit-Stone Building saying Go Hawks and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Tower saying Hawks win the night after the 2009–10 Chicago Blackhawks won the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals, viewed from the Petrillo Music Shell lawn in Grant Park

Utilizing a combination of lights on/off and 1,600 window blinds open/closed^[3] (and sometimes foamboard cutouts^[4]), the windows on CNA Center are often used to display lighted window messages, typically denoting holidays, remembrances, and other events denoting Chicago civic pride, such as when the White Sox played in and won the 2005 World Series. A computer program is used to calculate which windows need to be activated to create the proper message.

Position in Chicago's skyline

The skyline of a city with many large skyscrapers; in the foreground are a green park and a lake with many sailboats moored on it. Over 30 of the skyscrapers and some park features are labeled.

Gallery

CNA Center cheers the Chicago Bears

Lighted window message for New Year's Eve 2006

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to CNA Center.

v t e Chicago Skyscrapers

Tallest towers	Aon Center Franklin Center North Tower John Hancock Center Trump International Hotel and Tower Two Prudential Plaza Willis Tower

Selected towers with 20 or more floors	35 East Wacker 55 East Erie Street 77 West Wacker Drive 111 South Wacker Drive 155 North Wacker 181 West Madison Street 311 South Wacker Drive 330 North Wabash 333 North Michigan 333 Wacker Drive 340 on the Park 401 East Ontario 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments 900 North Michigan 1700 East 56th Street ABN AMRO Plaza Allerton Hotel Bilandic Building Blackstone Hotel Boeing International Headquarters Carbide & Carbon Building Chase Tower Chicago Board of Trade Building Chicago Place Chicago Temple Building Chicago Title and Trust Center Citigroup Center City Hall Square Building Civic Opera House CNA Center Crain Communications Building Dirksen Federal Building Fisher Building Four Seasons Hotel Chicago Harbor Point Hilton Chicago Home Insurance Building Hyatt Center James R. Thompson Center Joffrey Tower Kluczynski Federal Building Lake Point Tower LaSalle National Bank Building LaSalle-Wacker Building Legacy Tower Leo Burnett Building London Guarantee Building Marina City Masonic Temple Mather Tower Metropolitan Tower Montauk Building NBC Tower Old Dearborn Bank Building Olympia Centre One Financial Place One Magnificent Mile One Museum Park One North LaSalle One North Wacker One Prudential Plaza Outer Drive East Palmer House Palmolive Building Park Tower Peoples Gas Building Pittsfield Building Plaza 440 Powhatan Apartments Regents Park Richard J. Daley Center River East Center Roanoke Building and Tower Skybridge The Buckingham The Fordham The Heritage at Millennium Park The Pinnacle Three First National Plaza Time-Life Building Tribune Tower Waldorf Astoria Chicago Water Tower Place Wrigley Building

Chicago Landmark skyscrapers with 12 or more floors	Auditorium Building Brooks Building Bryn Mawr Apartment Hotel Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building Chicago Building Gage Group Buildings Heyworth Building Inland Steel Building Manhattan Building Marquette Building Marshall Field and Company Building Monadnock Building Mundelein College Skyscraper Building New York Life Insurance Building Old Colony Building Reliance Building Rookery Building

See also	Architecture Art Deco Chicago City Hall Chicago School Tallest buildings Washington Block

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