Humana Building
Encyclopedia
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, located at 500 West Main Street. The 27-story structure is headquarters of the Humana
Humana
Humana Inc. , founded in 1961 in Louisville, Kentucky, is a Fortune 100 company that markets and administers health insurance. With a customer base of over 11.5 million in the United States, the company is the largest Fortune 100 company headquartered in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and has a...
Corporation and known for its postmodern architecture
Postmodern architecture
Postmodern architecture began as an international style the first examples of which are generally cited as being from the 1950s, but did not become a movement until the late 1970s and continues to influence present-day architecture...
. It was designed by Michael Graves
Michael Graves
Michael Graves is an American architect. Identified as one of The New York Five, Graves has become a household name with his designs for domestic products sold at Target stores in the United States....
. Construction began in October 1982 and was completed in May 1985.
Each side of the building is designed slightly differently, up to a sloping pyramid style for the upper few floors. This basic design has led to the tower being locally known as "the Milk Carton". The building is also known for its exterior construction of flat pink granite. The north facade's loggia
Loggia
Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Minoan design. They are often a gallery or corridor at ground level, sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall...
is respectful of the older downtown architecture, being perfectly flush with the original Main Street storefronts. The open-air front portion of the loggia contains a large fountain.
The large, curved portion towards the top of the building is actually an open-air observation deck. The outermost point of the circle has space for a few people at a time to be surrounded by glass, allowing for a spectacular view of the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
and down Main Street.
The observation deck is not available to the public. It was closed after the terrorist attacks of September 11.
The American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
awarded the Humana Building the National Honor Award in 1987. Time Magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
listed it as one of the ten best buildings of the 1980s.