#036 l JP Morgan Chase Tower l HOUSTOn l 305m l 75fl

[D-Mac]

JP Morgan Chase Tower
Houston, USA

HEIGHT: 305m/1,002 feet
FLOORS: 75 floors
COMPLETION: 1982
ARCHITECT: I. M. Pei

Upon completion in 1981, this 1,000-foot-high tower was the tallest building in Houston, the sixth tallest in the United States, the tallest granite-clad building in the world, and the tallest composite concrete and steel building ever erected. The tower, however, is only part of a 2.2 million s/f complex that includes a 1-acre public plaza, a linked 2,000-car garage with retail / athletic facilities, and a shopping concourse that interconnects with Houston's pedestrian tunnel system.

While the form and the shape of the tower were determined by skyline considerations, sitting was a conscious attempt at urban space creation. Set back into a corner, the tower leaves open two-thirds of the full-block site to create a public plaza that offsets the tower's mass and forms a common setting for the buildings that surround it.

One corner of the tower is sheared off at a 45° angle to produce a slender five-sided structure. The 75-story main facade is an 85-foot column-free span of butt-jointed glass and stainless steel that offers panoramic views of the entire west side of Houston. Loads normally carried by corner columns are transferred back to the tower's structural core — one that introduces the elevator "Sky Lobby" for the first time outside New York and Chicago. The "Sky Lobby" offers panoramic views of Texas' largest city.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/chase01.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/chase02.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/chase03.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/chase04.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/chase05.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/chase06.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/chasenight.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/chasebase.jpg

[RafflesCity]

7/10

Nothing exceptional about it except its HEIGHT. The only nice thing is that its good for framing the skyline.

[ryanr]

Height, height, height....Not much of a design..6/10

[tayser]

very corporate America! doesnt tickle my fancy that much though, 6.5

tays

[AG]

Don't like how one side looks good, but flat on the other. Good that it is 5 sided though.

7/10

[Caledon1981]

it looks a lot better during a sunset!! WOW!! . . otherwise 8/10 for being over 1000ft;)

[Jasonhouse]

A depressingly bland corporate box. Bletch!

6.0/10

[Sunflower]

Uninteresting on almost all sides.

6/10

[cgrassham]

Looks good from some angles ugly from others. Very bland boring box with its only redeeming feature being the height. Even the five sides can't save it. 5.0/10

[DrumCorpsAlum]

Rather plain by itself, but looks great in a skyline. Neat in person, looks huge. 8/10.

[DaninTO]

6.0/10. There really isn't anything impressive about it.

[NickT]

Its really big but the facade is kinda bland 6.5/10 ;)

[TYW]

Nothin' special exept for it's hight. OK to me

[SUNNI]

height and height! i love that!

[cabasse]

UUGH, PEI DID THIS?!?

holy shit.

I don't mind the four regular sides of square windows (even though they're plain)

The fifth side with the rows of windows is just horrible though - in pictures, maybe when I see it in person my opinions will change.

6.0 (because I see a lot of those heh)

NP: Boston - Hitch a Ride

[Subdude]

5/10. An architecture critic called this the original building in a gray granite suit. It's not that it's bad, it's just that it so obviously could have been better.

[CTroyMathis]

Yet another shining Texas monolith that changes names at an alarming pace...read: banks...

6.

[enzo]

I love how it "goes for it" in the slim height department. Otherwise it does nothing interesting.

6.5/10

[SteelCity32]

Nice and tall, but a bit boxy and plain. 6.5/10

[Den Haag AvW]

It's not a great tower.
It will have to do it with 6/10

[Steven]

just a box to me. 7.5/10

[Westin Peachtree]

Nothing impressive except for it's height. It is a gigantic box. Driving by it on the interstate is nothing special either, you don't see the demensions or anything, just a soaring rectangle.

3 or less for me. The height is great but it is a 1000 foot box which is nothing impressive. Boxes are my least favorite thing. I wish that there werent so many 1000 foot boxes in the US.

[Liz L]

6.5/10 - Good soaring height, and an interesting shape. The facade dances with the light at some angles, but when the light doesn't hit it right, it's rather plain, with all those little windows that look like holes in a cheese grater. It seems I've started running into all the buildings that have those irritating little chees grater windows - this is the third time I've said this in the past day!
That facade needs something more - maybe bright metal mullions running skyward?

[MiCH]

Omg, what's wrong with you guys? (you all know I don't really mean that, don't you? :D) Just look at that fifth side, you see, the larger side. Isn't that facade just perfect for a skysraper of this size? The building's sleek, it has shiny windows, large glass-stripes and most important of all, it's got Height! 9/10 !

[Bobdreamz]

Uninspiring...you would expect more from a 1,000 footer besides height...even with 5 sides it is boring and I can't believe IM Pei & Partners did this.....6/10.

[Lt AWACS]

actually this building has grown on me over the years. Every time I go back home it is one the first I see. From the north side it does look like a box (though it is a pentagon) However from the south side the Southside 'or slab' which sits out from therest of the buildings looks great from street level. I go here often as I ahve friends who work on the 28the floor. I have even been to the top (at 75) The observation deck on 60 is awesome and gives a great view of DT day or night (if someone gets you in).

I wish teh FAA would have let it been 80 stories as it would look better with more height. The view from the south side and the great joints in hat SE slab are what give it an 8 on my scale. The williams is my 9.5 but this one keeps growing on me.


Ciao,
Lt-AWACS, King of Belize, Viceroy of Texas

[SeeMacau]

Nice and very very tall
8/10

[renell]

ok its tall. 6.5

[The Messiah]

Yeah where is the design?
It's a box and not an ugly box but it ain't a beautiful bx either.
Just plain.... 6.5/10

[Wu-Gambino]

7/10

[Oaronuviss]

I love how it's tall and slender.

8.5

[Ashram]

7/10 It's been pointed out in other post, it's tall, but rather bland.

[Westin Peachtree]

I take me 3 or less back. I give it a 5.

[bay_area]

I dont really like this tower but I ve been there because I work for JP in San Francisco and one redeeming aspect of this building is its texas-sized height!LOL

[Evergrey]

possibly the ugliest 1000+ ft tower in the world 3/10

[Roscoe]

very tall but design is too plain. 8/10

[AndrewC]

Boring, but its tall and shiny.

6

[New Jack City]

6/10..The design isn't great, but I like it's height and slenderness.

[james2390]

i like this one. i like it cuz its tall and simple. the interior is pretty cool 2. 10/10

[airsickpenthousedweller]

A good total result, impressive in the right way.

[jonathan]

See, i like it 8/10

[Chad]

JP Morgan Chase Tower is the Texas original!!!

[TropicalSQ744]

What a boring 1000 footer :bash: Could have done much better for such a major company.. :rant:

7.5/10

[rj2uman]

Sleek! 9/10

[Chibcha2k]

don't know why you grade it too low....it is awesome... it would look excellent here my fav in texas 9.5/10

[pwright1]

9.0 for me. Didn't think much of it at first, but after seeing it in person I think its a beautiful skyscraper. Absolute beautiful color. Very tall and powerful looking to me. Very impressed with the Houston skyline. One of my favorite.

[Falcaonet]

6.5 by the pics, in person it should be more an 8 or 8.5...

[AtlanticaC5]

It's very tall, and I like the sides with "ordinary" windows. That's all.

7/10

[Wisma]

Woow awesome slender tower.

9/10

[SFtoBoise]

5.5/10

[Patrick]

7

nothing special, but that's tall!

[FloTownballer]

I love almost evry building in houston But i had to give it a 8.5

[Primo]

This building is all about height and is too away from the skyline
but i give it a 7/10

[MCC]

7.5/10

[Fabio]

6/10


I don't like it.

[manx_bkk]

7.5/10
Very tall & sleek, nothing much in the design of this building, very simple.

[Trances]

Agree
70 stories, making it the tallest building in Houston !
Wow
but only its height sorry
Flat sides no features
Except a few sharp angles that make you for get is a box
6.5

[alex3000]

6/10

[Imperfect Ending]

6/10

everything is boring except for the height

[RafflesCity]

Things looking up at tower

Things are changing at the tallest building in Texas -- the 75-story J.P. Morgan Chase Tower.

For one thing, artist Joan Miró's 55-foot exterior sculpture, Personage and Birds, has been repainted and restored. The sculpture was installed 20 years ago when the office tower was built. The 1.7 million-square-foot tower was called the Texas Commerce Tower back then.

Other changes have been occurring inside the building, where several new tenants have been signed.

A law firm, Nickens Keeton Lawless Farrell and Flack, snatched up the loftiest perch, leasing 17,052 square feet on the top floor. The Purvin & Getz oil and gas firm leased 21,791 square feet, and the Comstock energy firm leased 2,300 square feet.

Crissy Wilson of Hines represented Prime Asset Management, the building's owner. The tower, at 600 Travis, is 93 percent leased.

[Aquarius]

I like the windows, but the building is something serious and boring 7/10

[Necker]

9

[7 World Trade]

this is all right, as an ordinary skyscraper, but not fitting for the ctb title of houston

it's way better if boa houston assume the role ctb of houston than this unoriginal pentagon.

7/10

[Orfeo]

7/10
Heights good, design bad.

[Schroedinger's Cat]

8.5/10

[DuskTrooper]

Simple, elegant, a tad bland, but TALL and in HOUSTON! 10/10

[Justadude]

Looks like it was built for sheer height, which makes the height seem less impressive. The only upside I see to this building is that it's not a gaudy color and I'd imagine the angles work well from the street.

4/10

[yoyo22]

6.5/10

Pentagon, yes. Tall yes. Sleek and slender yes. WIndows and facade, only okay, nothing fancy. A nice building. Not a great building

[Chibcha2k]

if it had a twin it could look awesome

[wajz]

Grandiose in size, bland in execution. Let's call it "blandiose"! 5/10

[Dubai-Lover]

boring design! only impresses by height! 4.5

[SChristopher]

4...this has got to be one of the most non-innovative designs ever.

[David3820]

Absolutely awsome!! Now that's what I call a pure solid skyscrapper and is the perfect hieght and color scheme for it's desighn!!! And I absolutely love how it's shaped. Yep everything about it!! Well except for the top floor on the left side because it looks like the rooms blew off. So 9.5/10

[DamienK]

Sturdy looking. The little notches add some interest. 7/10.

[therock]

7.5/10

[Monkey]

5.5/10
Very cold and corporate. A dull monotonous facade with no redeeming features.
The only thing which interests me is the height. Oh, and the public area around the base is quite nice.

[Imperial]

7/10

[texasboy]

Building Facts

- The JPMorganChase Tower is the tallest building in Texas.
- Tallest building in the United States west of the Mississippi River from 1982-1990; surpassed by the Library Tower in Los Angeles.
- The Joan Miro sculpture in its plaza is entitled Personage and Birds.
- Tallest five-sided building in the world.
- There is a two-story skylobby on the 60th floor with a free observation deck overlooking downtown and southwest Houston. It is open during business hours.
- The main lobby is a 5-storey atrium on the diagonal side, facing the plaza. On the other sides the lobby is open to the tunnel system below.
- When completed it was the tallest building outside New York and Chicago, and the seventh tallest building in the world.
- In the original design for this tower, 80 floors were to have been built. However, the floor count would be reduced to 75 because the FAA felt that 80 floors would place aircraft at risk flying in and out of William P. Hobby Airport.
- Miro's original "Personage and Birds" sculpture model is in the 60th floor skylobby along with two other sculptures that were considered for the plaza

[GetOnDaTrain]

6/10. This coming from a current Houstonian myself, this is the only 1000 footer with the five sided look, one of the few things I love. It does, however, loses points with me for factors: the mismatched design (the glass on the fifth side), blandness, the skinny design taking up only 2/3 of the city block and the obscurity in the view from the West.

[jimm]

9/10

[Israel]

For building height, no doubt this building gets a 10. But overall it's an 8.5 for me.

This building looks like more like the cities downtown jail, but a hughe skycraper version of it.

If they would have had a better roof even with it's 5 sided shape then it would look better, but since it has a flat roof it's to box like. Maybe a nice coned roof with a small spire would have looked good and a better glass apperance would stick out better.

I really think Houston needs to redefine it's skyline. If they would have added that Southwest Bank of Texas silver skyscraper from back in the day then it would help serve the Houston skyline better. I sometimes look at Downtown and see it needs help man. The Southwest Bank building next to Wells Fargo looks to stupid to be it's size.

I don't know when the city is planning to add better skyscrapers but if Houston wishes to be a becon for the south and have people flock to it's city please for Christ sake revamped the downtown skyline!!!

[teshadoh]

6.5 Rather dull sure - it is IM Pei after all. But there is something about it that I like, perhaps it's simplicity? I also like how it frames the street corner facing with the plaza - nice street orientation.

[andysimo123]

Nice and simple.8.5/10

[Pedrillo]

I think this is the best view of the tower:

http://tinypic.com/5cw76

but the front of the tower it's not very good for me. 7/10

[Zuelas]

8

I like it. Looks better as you get closer as it can appear pretty basic/cheap from a distance. Has a presence about it which separates it from other similar towers. When I can't get a good feeling about a particular building or feel indifferent which is the case here, I'll picture it in my favorite city and then can appreciate it more. W/that said, I think it'd look better somewhere near the Sears Tower ;)

[Taufiq]

6.5/10
Now this one really is a box, I respect the height though. :)

[STR]

It's not ugly, not pretty, not anything. Just tall. Tall, and 5 sided. 6.5

[The Mad Hatter!!]

i bet everytime i.m pei saw this building he wanted to cry

[Nick in Atlanta]

8/10 Beautiful simplicity. Looks better up close than it does in a skyline photo. Why does JP Morgan Chase have such a big building in Houston though?

[HoustonTexas]

8/10 Beautiful simplicity. Looks better up close than it does in a skyline photo. Why does JP Morgan Chase have such a big building in Houston though?
They don't "Have the Building", they are simply the main tenit... Alot of Chase Banks moved most of there financial departments out of NYC.

[texasboy]

Actually there are too many JPMorganChase buildings in downtown.

[HoustonTexas]

Actually there are too many JPMorganChase buildings in downtown.
They have Many, many buildings around town...

[Jon Reid]

7.5 - very nice

[HoustonTexas]

Gawd I never realized how much I love this building until I saw it yesterday at 11:00pm, the moon was so bright, and the clouds where moving so fast, and they where white. You could see the stars, and the sky was kinda blue (I thought it was erie, cuz its suppose to be all orangy (light pollution) but it was clear, and the clouds WHERE WHITE! and the sky was BLUE @ 11!!!!)

[Paolo]

I like simple forms - and this one is almost perfect 9/10

[SkyHawk]

7/10

[chicago1988]

Nice,but,nothing,special
7.5/10

[MattSal]

Boring. I give it a 6/10. Next, please . . .

[Medo]

6/10

[get13]

O.K. The only great thing is the height. 5/10

[Pengui]

Very awful. Has to rely on such records as "tallest five-sided" or "tallest outside NY and Chicago" to have something special. A dinosaur from the earlier 70s built in the 80s. Awww.

3 or less.

[Henk]

A little bit boxy butt I like this one. 7/10.

[Phobos]

6/10

too bland.

[B@dGuYoM]

7.5/10

[Latoso]

8.5/10 Nice verticality.

[Jules]

Kinda dull. 6.5.

[geminiguy7]

5.5

[SoboleuS]

A box. But a good one ;) 7,5/10

[DRAKKO]

no se ven las fotos :sleepy:

[Shafick]

:drool: :applause: :applause: 10 points....!

[CborG]

mwoah..uninspirering design 7/10

[empersouf]

I like this one very much, 9.0. One of teh best in the States.

[Otamendi]

4,5 Horrible design, its the thipical box.

But its very impressive, looks huge, really more than 300 m, not like we see now buildings of 200 m with a mast or a spire that reach 300 m.

A icon of the economic power of usa in the 80´s.

[inam]

NOw thats a niceeee building-I live in houston... =)

[ROYAL BLUE]

9/10

[EarlyBird]

A bit of an odd looking tower really. 6/10.

[El_Greco]

7/10

[verycoolnin]

I love this tower. It keeps things simple and keeps on going up. 9 of 10.

[Accura4Matalan]

Unremarkable and quite ugly. 6/10

[Reflex]

6.5/10.

[♣628.8m]

0/10, as the suck city Houston. :puke:
If it's in other cities, 4/10.

[FJP]

8/10

[pali]

its really tall!!
8

[dts_freak]

By no means a beauty, but its tall. 8.0

[PornStar]

looks big, but that's all
6/10

[Oriolus]

6.5/10. The sides with square windows look OK - although a little bland it does give it a smooth towering look. But the side rising above the main entrance is quite ugly & really lets it down. Would have been nice to see something different on that side, but not that.

[Dancer]

Well I guess its not a box. Its a little bland to me. 6.5

[london-b]

The hight is good, but bland design and bland colour. 6/10

[Gerard]

it is ok. very american. 8/10

[www.sercan.de]

5,5/10

[k19]

boxy but tall 7/10

[Mosaic]

simple look, american style,nothing attractive.6/10

[ChiLooper]

6.5/10

[Skylandman]

7/10

[۩SkyScraper۩]

lil boring 7/10

[Sinjin P.]

Tall but too simple and argh, I hate the colour. 5/10

[Cpbujaa]

7/10

[Blue_Sky]

6/10

[forvine]

6.5/10 only for the heights

[Cabman]

Cold, cold, cold. 6/10

[anakin]

boring 5,5/10

[mr_storms]

uninspired, especially for pei. 7/10

[FROM LOS ANGELES]

Houston sure did pull it off with this one. I love it. 9/10

[warnings]

5.5/10

[Scruffy88]

Big and boring.
but very big
6.5/10

[CPN]

Not very sophisticated but somehow elegant ..
6.5/10

[Sideshow_Bob]

It looks like 60/70s tower.. 7/10

[sharpie20]

6/10 The only thing that i like about this one is it's lanky appearance

[skipperBill]

6.5/10.

[Moren-o]

Very monotone and simple.
I think that's the reason why it seems endless.
Not bad.

8/10

[Eric Offereins]

8/10 The best thing of its design is its height.

[marpa]

3/10

[clarky]

8.5/10

[Skyman]

It's OK 6.5/10

[Taller, Better]

7. Nice enough for when it was built. Is it still the tallest in town?

[zee]

6/10

[dennis7091]

8/10

[dżimi pejdż]

6/10

[LAYZIEDOGG]

nothing special 7/10

[Woko]

There is nothing special in this tower. But i will give 8/10 because it looks taller than 305 meter. :)

[ZZ-II]

i like it but the facade could be more modern, looks to old. 8.5/10

[Lares]

7/10

[Tom Ace]

5.5 out of 10. nothing special. a huge box and this is coming from a person who likes boxes. the 45% angled 5th side looks horrible enough without the row windows and that makes it worse. the saving grace was the height and the granite, even though it doesn't look particularly nice on this building.

seriously, how did this thing get into the top 100.

[mtt16]

8/10 love its high

[The Forgotten Shadow]

JP Morgan. Hmm.. Well, it's tall, that's obvious, but it is lacking something.. and that's style. 6.5/10

[virarch]

6.5/10

[gutooo]

8/10

[mannix_10]

3/10

[Dreamlıneя]

6/10

[cffuny]

^^6/10:D

[wallace2]

At first glance, this huge building reminds me of the World Trade Center Towers because of it's square shape. I have been in the lobby of this building and the sky lobby as well. It is all very beautiful interior. Marble, granite, and other costly ornimitations ordiane this beautiful building's interior. The main lobby of the Chase Tower is that of the World Trade Center's lobby. Huge ceilings and marble walls are very simular to that of the WTC. The WTC towers were very square and pretty much had the same exterior of the Chase Tower in Houston. I think the Chase Tower reminds me alot of the WTC. So, when you make your reviews about this tower, just remember that the Chase Tower is what the WTC used to look like.

[Artemy13]

5/10

[kirby21]

6 / 10

[Very Controversial]

6/10, okay

[chinatown]

tall,but so simple.
7/10

[Orienthai]

7/10

[MexAmericanMoose]

7/10...its sheer size makes up for its blandness

[Alle]

5/10. An architecture critic called this the original building in a gray granite suit. It's not that it's bad, it's just that it so obviously could have been better.

Agree. 5. Its very average, The good things is its high and square so it adds to density. It just looks to cheap. And a five is still a pass. Some people may like it though everyone got their own taste. But i dont.

[AhChuan]

Ermm..why houston so many simple design buildings. Hahaha...well I hope that one day houston has a very nice building. Full with futuristic design. So...in this case...6/10.

[vincent young]

8/10

[FloridaFuture]

tall but not cool
5.5/10

[great184]

Back in the era this design (Box-type) was still the way to design skyscrapers... To give consideration to that era... its about 7/10 for me...

[Woolie]

Fairly conventional (bleh), but slender enough to make it elegant. 7.5/10

[tuga14]

8/10:D

[alsen]

nothing special 5/10

[Facial]

The angle is interesting. 9.

[(((myx)))]

8. nice.

[MelboyPete]

It's height for me gave it a 7 but not for much else.

[imani]

7 / 10

[mysteek_1976]

probably my least favorite of pei's work........7

[Piotr-Stettin]

6,5/10

[xAKxRUSx]

Eww.. box.

[rilham2new]

5/10.... maybe I'll give it 10/10 but only in year of 1982......

Today is 2007 ...

[W!CKED]

7.5/10

[ElCrioyo]

NICE BUT TO BOXXY!!!is a simple box but it still real nice..it makes houston look much better

[Kelsen]

8.5/10 for its height!

[Ralphkke]

Looks normal to me. 6/10

[Stiggen]

6,5/10

[SouthernEuropean]

4/10

[Aliya]

9.5/10

lovely :)

[VaastuShastra]

7 - dull.

[cong san muon nam]

6.5/10

[Taylorhoge]

6/10 dull but alright

remids me of Mellon Bank Tower in Phittsburgh

[Skyman]

8.5/10

[Miso]

8.5/10

[Heilig]

6/10

[Brendan]

5.5/10

Every floor is exactly the same and to just over 300m that is not a good thing. The facade is ok, though.

[montesky]

not impressed at all
6/10

[44p]

this is in my hometown!!
and I love it....it's 9!!

[Slodi]

just a tall box 6/10

[LMCA1990]

7/10

[Astralis]

Not bad... 7.5/10

[MasonicStage™]

7/10

[sequoias]

Looks skinny and tall and I voted 9/10, even tho it didn't score 9.5 because it's not so attractive.

[Skyman]

I like it

[Rizzato]

6/10

[newyorkrunaway1]

4.5/10

very generic, i gave it an extra .5 because of height

[RON-E]

3/10

way to generic, i give it a 3 for height alone

[Jim856796]

8.5/10

[TRMD]

6.5/10 ;)

[Brendan]

Yuck. I have seen way better.

[DragonAnime]

Ugh. 2/10.

[kon133]

8,5/10

[Nikkodemo]

Giant building but simple design!

7/10

[krzewi]

nothing special...6

[incognito_rn]

Nothin' special except for it's height

[Sound.]

6/10

[kofemord]

i really like it

10

[Racingfreak]

Good box 9/10

[jayhawker]

As a place-filler, it would be very nice. As a center-piece it is merely ok.

[Halabalooza]

tall but ugly and boring. 5

[44p]

I see this tower all the time since I live near there.
It's nice having one of the 25 tallest buildings in the world in your city.
But I wish they would build a taller more futuristic building.

[WAuzzie]

8/10

[Fundador]

nice tower 9/10

[thomyorke26]

8 / 10

[meds]

6/10

[Ballota]

7.5/10

:cheers:

[Mateus_]

6/10

[Miguel_Prat]

7/10

[Kawasaki_Kragujevac]

8.5/10

[Geiselgesell]

6/10

[stasiua]

8/10

[Rutger1991]

6/10