Wright’s Mile High Illinois Glass Tower

Architects’ designs are at times both pragmatic and fanciful. Frank Lloyd Wright was no exception. In 1956, Chicago and other cities were struggling with their growing populations, and a finite amount of space in which to house them and their businesses. Wright’s solution, which many believed was ahead of its time, was to build up using glass.

Wright introduced his Mile High Illinois Tower just two years before he died, but he was serious about building it. Following his death, the project lost its biggest champion, and to date it hasn’t been built. The world’s tallest building is nowhere near Wright’s proposed maximum height, but just as Wright envisioned it, today’s tallest buildings rely heavily on glass. Read more