Hancock Tower

As the tallest building in Boston, the John Hancock Tower is hard to miss. Designed by Henry N. Cobb of IM Pei & Partners (now Pei Cobb Freed & Partners), the 60-story, 790-foot skyscraper is a soaring example of minimalist design principals, as its facade is almost completely covered by large, blue-tinted windows that allow the tower to blend into the sky on clear days. In many photos, the Hancock Building appears to have sharp, straight angles; however, Cobb's plans gave the tower a parallelogram shape, which is evident even from the Bunker Hill Memorial. Completed in 1976, the building offers a dramatic contrast to the 19th-century Romanesque Trinity Church located across the street.