About the Foundation's Logo

Freeform (1993)

Welded stainless steel, 26’ h x 35’ w x 2’ d

Located on the exterior facade of the Michael A. Bilandic Building (formerly State of Illinois Building)

160 N. LaSalle St., Chicago, IL

 

Richard Hunt’s masterwork, Freeform (1993), commissioned by the State of Illinois’s Art-in-Architecture Program, adorns the façade of the State of Illinois Building—now known as the Michael A. Bilandic Building—on North LaSalle Street. This towering 21-story edifice, which once housed the heart of state government, emerged from the creative vision of D.H. Burnham and Company in 1920. In 1993, Richard Hunt's monumental sculpture was strategically placed before the 7th and 8th floors.

 

Weighing in at around three tons and spanning 26 by 35 feet, its sinuous shapes evoke the essence of flickering flames, cleverly juxtaposed against its substantial mass. Rising two and a half stories, Freeform serves as a striking sculpture positioned above the entrance of the Michael A. Bilandic Building. Commissioned by the state capital development board, this installation was intended as a symbolic beacon of freedom for the newly established court complex. The shimmering steel contours pay homage to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, reflecting how the city’s bold architects, artists, and social reformers not only reconstructed physical structures but also forged anew the social contracts with the citizens of Chicago.

 

The plaque acknowledging this monument reads: "Inside the State Office Building at 160 North LaSalle, the State's judicial system works as the guardian of freedom. Outside the building, Freeform illustrates the free form of art while symbolically celebrating the freedoms in society guaranteed by the judicial system."

​

Freeform marked Hunt’s first use of computer-aided design to scale up a model for a monumental public work. The sculpture, attached to the building rather than a freestanding sculpture, demonstrates the artist’s ongoing interest in harmonizing the tension between the natural and the industrial, the organic and the abstract, and the traditional and the contemporary. It has become one of Chicago’s iconic sculptures, and a fitting symbol of freedom and growth for the foundation.