Structural System—Standard Oil of Indiana Building

The Standard Oil of Indiana building currently under construction in Chicago was designed by the joint venture of Edward Durell Stone and the Perkins and Will Corporations. It is being constructed by the Turner Construction Company with steel fabricated and erected by the American Bridge Division of the United States Steel Corporation. The building is not only one of the tallest buildings in the world, but also has the distinction of having a structural system which introduces economy in construction cost by minimizing tonnage of steel in the structural frame and at the same time minimizes steel fabrication costs by choice of structural arrangements. The structural system for the building, which is essentially square in plan, consists of a central core with 16 columns which carry only vertical load, and a system of vertical columns and horizontal spandrels made of plates in the exterior walls. As such the structure behaves as a tube under both vertical and lateral loads.