Google shares Thompson Center renderings for Chicago flagship

On September 16, Google shared new interior and exterior renderings of Chicago’s Thompson Center, as part of the ongoing renovation project by Jahn/. The new renderings differ from a previous batch rolled out in 2024. (Phil Castillo and Lynda Dosey of Jahn/ presented the project at Facades+ Chicago yesterday.)

Whereas renderings from two years ago showed the original mosaic inscribed into the floor inspired by Piazza del Campidoglio as removed, this latest round shows the mosaic intact, albeit a portion of it.

Google also announced that artist Sanford Biggers has been commissioned to design a permanent artwork for the Thompson Center’s plaza. Exterior renderings show the future sculpture, titled Vector, by Biggers. 

Vector will rise 30 feet tall. It will consist of glazed terracotta tile patterns, and is inspired by historic 19th-century quilts, Google said.

Architecture Plus Information, a New York firm, is designing the interiors; the central opening beneath the 17-story central atrium is being expanded, and a “cascading staircase” will be built that’s integrated with retail and terraced seating.

The Thompson Center was almost demolished in 2020; Helmut Jahn, Docomomo, Preservation Futures, and others stepped in to save it. Google bought the Thompson Center in 2022 for $105 million. The acquisition has been controversial.

“Renderings by nature are a distraction until the public gets to see the newly renovated Thompson Center with its own eyes,” said Elizabeth Blasius, cofounder of Preservation Futures. “But it remains to be seen how much of the Thompson Center will be accessible to the public, and what will be accessible only to Google.”

Blasius told AN, “the Thompson Center was a beloved public building, and its sale to the private sector was justified due to its public benefit. But in reality the public will see very little of that benefit, just like the offloading of any other public asset.”

The new opening date is 2028.