IDS Center

IDS 센터

The IDS Center is an office skyscraper at 80 South 8th Street in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Finished in 1973, it is the tallest building in the city and in the whole state of Minnesota, at 792 feet (241 m). Counting the communications spires on its roof, it reaches 910 feet. It was built as the headquarters of Investors Diversified Services, now Ameriprise Financial, and it also housed the headquarters of Dayton Hudson, now Target, from 1972 until 2001.

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At a glance

Country: United States
Location: Minneapolis, USA
Built: 1973
Height: 241 m
Type: Skyscraper

Quick answers

Where is IDS Center?

IDS Center is in Minneapolis, USA, United States.

When was IDS Center built?

IDS Center was built in 1973.

How tall is IDS Center?

IDS Center is about 241 m tall.

Minneapolis's tallest tower, a blue-green glass shaft with stepped "zogs" at its corners.

The complex has five parts: the 57-story IDS Tower, an eight-story annex, the 19-story Marquette Hotel, a two-story shop building and the seven-story glass-roofed Crystal Court that joins them. It was the 16th tallest building in the world when it was finished and the third tallest built that year. Its architect was Philip Johnson.

Zogs and corner offices

The tower has a peculiar stepped design that Johnson called zogs, notches cut into the corners as the building rises. They give each floor up to 32 corner offices, which are the offices most people want. The Crystal Court at the bottom is a lobby and shopping area with skyway connections to four neighbouring blocks, letting people walk in winter without going outside.

The tallest in town

The IDS passed the 32-story Foshay Tower in 1972, ending that building's 43-year reign over the skyline. Construction was followed with great interest and the topping-off ceremony was a major civic event. Today a friendly dispute exists with the nearby Capella Tower over which building is taller, but the IDS is taller with its spires and has 57 stories to Capella's 56, tied with the neighbouring Wells Fargo Center.

TV fame and trouble

Viewers of The Mary Tyler Moore Show may remember the IDS: in the opening of the show the character Mary Richards walks on Nicollet Mall past an IDS shop, and a statue of her tossing her hat stands nearby. The building has had problems too. The Crystal Court has leaked since soon after it was built because of Minnesota's freezing and thawing, falling ice sometimes breaks the glass roof, and a June 1979 wind storm broke so much glass that the court was sealed off with plywood. The 51st-floor observation deck closed in 1984.

Fun facts

It is the tallest building in the whole state of Minnesota.
It was the 16th tallest building in the world when it was finished.
A topping-off ceremony for the tower was a major civic event.
Each floor can have up to 32 corner offices because of the stepped corners called zogs.