“[Mies van der Rohe] is placed in his proper historical context when it is realized that with fewer than a mere ten designs, more than half of them unexecuted projects, his personal development of the skyscraper is in fact the essential architectural history of the skyscraper as it is being built today.”

“Mies van der Rohe,” Exhibit Catalog, A. James Speyer, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1968

After spending the first 52 years of his life in Germany, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe emigrated to the United States in 1938 and designed the 860|880 buildings a decade later. Costing just under $6,000,000 (approximately $49 million in 2010 dollars), upon completion the 860|880 buildings were popular with tenant-owners and many (but not all) architectural critics. Within a few years, the buildings had become very influential, and in 1996 they were the first post-World War II buildings to achieve City of Chicago landmark status.
Photographer: We believe that Slim Aarons (d. 2006) took this photograph.