Located directly opposite the Chicago Civic Center Plaza, the Cook County Administration Building (formerly the Brunswick Building) represents an early collaboration between three men synonymous with Chicago’s skyline: Myron Goldsmith, Bruce Graham, and Fazlur Khan. The Administration Building utilizes a tube-within-a-tube structural system. Rigid, hollow tubes make up the core and perimeter, bracing the building and allowing column-free interiors. Variations of this system would later give rise to the John Hancock Center and Sears Tower.

Widely spaced columns at the building’s base create a large, open space, which connects the building to the streetscape and gestures toward the Chicago Civic Center’s open plaza across the street. The building’s functional areas include connections to the subway and Civic Center; a ground floor plaza with a lobby, exhibits, and mechanical equipment; storage and rental areas; and corporate offices. A Joan Miró sculpture was erected in the neighboring plaza in 1980.