John Hancock Tower, Modern skyscraper in Back Bay, Boston, United States
John Hancock Tower is an office building in Back Bay, Boston that rises 241 meters (791 feet) across 60 floors. The glass exterior forms a parallelogram with smooth, continuous facades that shift depending on time of day and weather conditions.
Construction ran between 1968 and 1976 and involved many technical difficulties, including breaking windows and stability problems caused by wind. Engineers had to replace all the windows and install additional stabilization systems to make the structure safe for use.
The glass tower reflects nearby Trinity Church and Copley Square Plaza, creating a merging of old and new architecture. These surfaces capture the changing light of the sky above Boston and transform the building into a large reflective canvas.
Viewing from street level works best on clear days when the reflective facades show surrounding buildings and clouds most clearly. The area around Copley Square offers several angles from which the full height and shape of the tower become visible.
About 5,000 of the original glass panes were removed intact and later sold by the discount retailer Building #19 for $100 apiece, advertised with the line "If it does fall out, we promise to sell you the replacement plywood very cheap." On the 58th floor, two 300-ton lead-filled steel weights, each 17 feet square and 3 feet high, slide on lubricated plates and are linked to the frame by springs and shock absorbers.
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