IDS Center : 80 South Eighth Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402, United States

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80% of our readers like IDS Center.

Modern in the modern tradition, but without the fatal flaw of being boring, the IDS Center peeks over all others. At the time of its completion, it was the tallest skyscraper in Minneapolis. You can't say that one building towers over the others in this city because while the IDS center is 775 feet, right behind it, US Bank is only one foot shorter, and next comes Wells Fargo Center another foot still. On the positive side, the IDS Center is similar at first glance in graceful simplicity to the Hancock Tower in Boston, but it isn't merely another black monolith thrust into the ground. It has a pleasing polygon shape and a mixture of materials that project a good sense of texture. However, the item that makes it most attractive to the public is the Crystal Court -- an eight-story glass commons that includes a 105-foot waterfall.

> At the time of its completion, this was the tallest building in Minneapolis.
> This building's atrium features a 105 foot tall waterfall.
> The IDS Center is covered with 42,614 panes of reflective glass.
> This building was built with 15,000 tons of structural steel.
> This was formerly the location of Hennepin Federal Savings and Loan.
> The IDS Center was intended to be the center and focal-point of downtown Minneapolis.
> February, 1972 - The first tenants move in.

Did You Know?
> It was in front of this building that Mary Tyler Moore threw her hat in the air in the famous opener from The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
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Discuss the architecture of IDS Center and other buildings in Minneapolis.
Last 4 Comments

Greg Morrison - Saturday, November 10th, 2007 @ 9:04pm • Rating:

Four stars.

I was so pleased to return to Minneapolis this year for the first time in almost thirty years and see the IDS presiding over the city. "Hats off" to the good taste of city builders and architects who have come since, building towers that complement the skyline without forgetting the city's signature tower!

john - Friday, August 12th, 2005 @ 11:24pm • Rating:

Five stars.

Having experienced the IDS tower continuously for the past 20 years... I am consistently pleased by it's altering moods and colors(depending on the weather). It is a powerful and elegant statement of wealth and sophistication.

Dan Wood - May 20th, 2003 •
if I remember right when the IDS center was built, it was built with the provision that it would remain the tallest building in Minneapolis for 20 years or until 2003 or something...In any case, I'm pretty sure this restriction just expired, allowing taller buildings to be constructed.

Bill Haverburg - May 26th, 2002 •
The reason US Bank Place and the Wells Fargo Building are a foot or two shorter then the IDS building is a homage by the architects both to the local cultural significance of the IDS building (our first modern skyscraper, and a quite remarkable one) and to the sensibility of the local population. It would have been easy for both architects to build taller then the IDS, but it would have been ... both tacky and showing off, something that doesn't really match our cultural values. We're kind of phlegmatic up here. Someday a building will be taller then the IDS, but it will be taller because it needs to be, not because the architects want to show off.

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