Its funny because it has a lot more respect from architects and younger people than anyone else. Really going back to the 1970s, the south loop area was considered blight, and anything and everything that could be torn down or converted to loft space was. Any large building needed for anything be it a telecom center or prison could find a home in this area along congressn. The prison is by far the best of the redevelopment along with the Board of Trade Annex, however the old time Chicago Streets were forever changed. There's still a remnant, but for how long who knows, of the old city left behind the prison with bars, flop houses, pawn shops and check cashing places, all on one block.

Heres some photos showing the context and the old density replaced by super block prison; But it is a cool buidling - Harry weese









This last one is a vestige of what the area was like way before the highways, urban renewal and demise of the rail / industry nearby. Sometimes I wish they would declare this street a landmark, is just west of the prison.

i really disliked that jail of weese when it was the direct view from our window while squatting in monadnock building in 1980 as traveling students looking at chicago for two weeks.
it is interesting a brutal building then, regarded as 'cool' now.

the neighborhood was run down, but had a lot of character and cheap greasy spoons with stewed short ribs on the menu.

Searching for some images of this area in the 1970s I found this blog entry about the same block -

http://achicagosojourn.blogspot.com/2008_02_01_archive.html

"The foreboding presence of the Chicago Metropolitan Correctional Center (a high-rise, concrete, triangular-shaped jail) across the street is likely a big reason the block remains as it is, and even that may not last. Already the rising tide of economic fortune is lapping at this block's shores -- right next door, a 5th vintage building has been converted to a nightclub. To the south, and across the street, massive parking garages have replaced whatever contemporary neighbors the buildings once had."

This is / was the near southside in the 1970s - most of this was torn down, still left as empty lots or had sterile condos with parking garages for bottoms built. A few remain as converted lofts. One thing is for certain, the soul is gone.

The building is pretty well beloved from my experience, mostly by architects but I've actually heard more than a few "lay people" discussing how cool it is. It's one of the better buildings in the loop, in fact.

Orhan, why didn't you like it? I'm surprised.

The knife edge effect is fantastic -- it really reveals itself to you intriguingly as you walk along the street. Another building that does this (even slightly better, in fact) is the tower at the Christian Science Center complex in Boston by IM Pei. If you like this one, you'll definitely like that one. Excellent.

that's a lot better than the middlelsex jail in boston...

The hi rise jail always immediately confronted me with incarceration and I didn't even think of its architectural properties beyond the narrow slot windows where people got the glimpse of the outside world but could not experience it like I could. The idea of forced confinement horrified me with claustrophobia. I knew behind those walls there were people who were in a 6'x6' space all day long. Their crime, I didn't know.

i dint know it was a jail, when i first moved to Chicago, and thats when i liked the building against the glass and steel Chicago downtown. We dont often see massy concrete skyscrapers with that orangish finish, or even those slit windows. it intrigued me especially since it was in downtown, until someone told me it was a prison.
I was surprised and have never stopped liking it in spite of knowing that people maybe unhappy behind it, but what makes me still intrigued is the fact that its design was completely governed by its functional requirements and absurdly now, just that block remains untouched by development; as yet at least.

I am thinking of writing a paper on it for school
any information or thoughts about it will be appreciated.

Orhan,
That's really interesting. Considering the nature of the building, the certain misery of its tenants and the resulting tension behind its location in the middle of an urban area, I think the vivid and emotional response you experienced is evidence of how successful the design is.

I know what you mean, Orhan -- I used to always get the distinctly claustrophobic and sorrowful feeling when I passed the Fort Duquesne (I think that's what it's called?) prison near downtown Pittsburgh (situated immediately adjacent to a major artery along the river, and therefore seen by anyone coming into or out of downtown Pgh from the east). That prison is similarly situated to this one, except the windows are absolutely miniscule by comparison (interestingly, I believe it was designed by Tasso Katselas (I think??) who also designed the Pittsburgh airport, one of the best airports I've ever been in.) For some reason, however, I recently passed this prison in Chicago and found myself idly musing the exact opposite: the windows are actually nicer than some prison windows I've seen, in that they seem to run floor-to-ceiling (I've always wondered whether that's actually the case or not) and I found myself thinking, 'wow, what a difference it would be to be sent to a jail like that, where you actually get to watch trains going by, and streetlife, and seasons changing' as opposed to MOST of the prisons in this country which are situated very far away from any life whatsoever and throttle the prison cell with cut-off views of sky only. Also, if I recall, since that's only a county jail isn't it mainly those with shorter sentences, like drug offenders or domestic-assaulters? I might be wrong on that.

But contrast this jail with, for example, the one I pass frequently that sits just outside of Pheonix, in 100+ degree heat, and adjacent to nothing but dust & a freeway. Ugh, it's the single most depressing thing you've ever seen.

The Chicago Prison is a Federal Holding Cell for people awaiting Federal courts only. Its full of some high profile cases like mobsters, politicians and a few Wall Street Scammers at the moment. Its just temporary quarters until their trials are over.