Metropolitan Correctional Center, Chicago
While not very tall, this 1975 brutalist structure is one of the most distinctive and curious in the Chicago skyline.
While not very tall, this 1975 brutalist structure is one of the most distinctive and curious in the Chicago skyline. As its name suggests, it is a vertical prison skyscraper and its sharp triangular shape is designed to minimize the amount of time that it takes to patrol its corridors. Its prisoners have some of the prison world's best views as their exercise yard is located on top of the roof, although the narrow slits serving as windows do not allow such nice views from the cells. The prison houses male and female convicts of all security levels, waiting for transport to the courthouse nearby.
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About Metropolitan Correctional Center
71 West Van Buren Street, Chicago, IL, United States
+1 312-322-0567
Metropolitan Correctional Center and Nearby Sights on Map
Chicago Loop
Federal Center
This plaza includes Mies' Dirksen Federal Building and Kluczynski Federal Building (built eleven years apart), with a low-rise post office enveloped in their sleek black lines
Monadnock Building
Named appropriately for a mountain in New Hampshire, the Monadnock was the last tall building to be supported by its own walls (not a metal frame, although the 1893 addition by Holabird & Roche does use one)
Chicago Board of Trade Visitor Center
This monumental 1930 building is an Art Deco masterpiece and dominates its surrounding streets like no other in the Loop
University of Chicago
Marquette Building
It's partially obscured by renovations, but this first-wave skyscraper still makes an immediate contrast with the modern Federal Center across the street
The Rookery (Chicago)
The Rookery is gorgeous to the point of absurdity, with delight to be found in details in the rustic lower walls and the triumphant upper walls
Federal Reserve Bank Money Museum
Currency wonks can study various denominations and practice counterfeit detections
Chase Tower
Located at the exact epicenter of CTA's Loop transit system, this 850ft building is distinctive for its vertical curve
Dearborn Station
Built in 1885, this was one of the great stations of the railroad era, the first glimpse of Chicago for countless visitors from across the country