A couple days ago i heard someone on the el say, “I went back to my building after lunch” (in reference to her work building). I like that I don’t refer to the where i work, the Tribune Tower, as “my building.” It’s the “Tribune Tower.” There’s prestige and honor being able to say “Tribune Tower”–it’s got identity, rather than just some “my building.”
working at a building with a name
Happening right now on Spudart: Press a leaf in an envelope with the date and story written on it until 2026-10-31
There are definitely buildings that deserve to be referenced by their name like Tribune Tower, or John Hancock, Sears, City Hall, Leo Burnett … What about the buildings with famous or vanity addresses, like “1 Mag Mile” I’ve found that not many people know where a vanity address is when they hear one. Someone will say “I work at 1 Illinois Center” and people are like, “Where’s that?” A few years ago there was a fire at “1 Illinois Center” and the person who called the fire department gave the vanity address, and not the actual street addess [111 E. Wacker”>. The firemen didn’t know where to go! Another desperate call came in with the actual street address. Whew! What about buildings with nicknames, like the Engagement Ring Building, or the Batman building. I wonder if workers in those buildings call them that? “Where do you work” “Oh, I work in the Batman building”
interior