Coleman Government Center from Rhodes State

The architecture of

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

is represented by numerous notable architects' works, individually notable buildings, and a wide range of styles.

Yost & Packard Yost & Packard was an architectural firm based in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The firm included partners Joseph W. Yost and Frank Packard. It was founded in 1892 and continued until Yost moved to New York City in 1899, after which Packard took ...

, the most prolific architects for much of the city's history, gave the city much of its eclectic and playful designs at a time when architecture tended to be busy and vibrant.

Planning

Columbus was laid out as a planned city, when the state legislature agreed to build a new city in the center of Ohio. As well, Franklinton landowners had donated two plots in an effort to convince the state to move its capitol there. The two spaces were set to become

Capitol Square Capitol Square is a public square in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. The square includes the Ohio Statehouse, its Capitol Grounds, as well as the buildings and features surrounding the square. The Capitol Grounds are surrounded on the north and west ...

(for the

Ohio Statehouse The Ohio Statehouse is the state capitol building and seat of government for the U.S. state of Ohio. The Greek Revival building is located on Capitol Square in Downtown Columbus. The capitol houses the Ohio General Assembly, consisting of the H ...

) and the

Ohio Penitentiary The Ohio Penitentiary, also known as the Ohio State Penitentiary, was a prison operated from 1834 to 1984 in downtown Columbus, Ohio, in what is now known as the Arena District. The state had built a small prison in Columbus in 1813, but as the ...

. The city was founded on February 14, 1812. In 1908, the city published one of its most influential urban plans. The 1908 "

City Beautiful The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of the ...

" plan was an early plan to make more livable spaces, improve the city's economy, and establish several grand public buildings.

Tallest buildings

The tallest high-rises and skyscrapers in Columbus are: #

Rhodes State Office Tower The James A. Rhodes State Office Tower is a 41-story, skyscraper on Capitol Square in downtown Columbus, Ohio. The Rhodes Tower was completed and occupied in 1974, and is currently the tallest building in Columbus and the fifth tallest in Oh ...

LeVeque Tower The LeVeque Tower is a 47-story skyscraper in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. At it was the tallest building in the city from its completion in 1927 to 1974, and remains the second-tallest today. Designed by C. Howard Crane, the Art Deco skyscraper ...

# William Green Building # Huntington Center # Vern Riffe State Office Tower #

One Nationwide Plaza One Nationwide Plaza is a 40-story skyscraper in Columbus, Ohio that serves as the corporate office headquarters of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. It is part of the complex of buildings known as Nationwide Plaza. Nationwide outgrew its 24 ...

Franklin County Courthouse Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral di ...

AEP Building The AEP Building is a skyscraper in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. It was completed in 1983 and has 31 floors. Abramovitz, Harris & Kingsland designed the building following a modernist architectural style. The AEP Building is the 8th tallest build ...

Borden Building The Borden Building is a 438 ft (134m) tall skyscraper located at 180 East Broad Street in Columbus, Ohio, United States. It was topped out on May 9, 1973, and completed the next year. Harrison & Abramovitz designed the building following a ...

Three Nationwide Plaza Three Nationwide Plaza is a postmodern highrise building located at the address 3 Nationwide Plaza in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. The building is part of the larger multi-building complex known as Nationwide Plaza. Nationwide Plaza is the headquart ...

Notable architects

Columbus Union Station facade from the north (cropped)

Individual architects

Daniel Burnham Daniel Hudson Burnham (September 4, 1846 – June 1, 1912) was an American architect and urban designer. A proponent of the '' Beaux-Arts'' movement, he may have been, "the most successful power broker the American architectural profession has ...

(1846-1912) *

Peter Eisenman Peter Eisenman (born August 11, 1932) is an American architect. Considered one of the New York Five, Eisenman is known for his writing and speaking about architecture as well as his designs, which have been called high modernist or deconstructive ...

(1932-) * W. Byron Ireland (c. 1930-1982) * Nathan Kelley (1808-1871) *

Frank Packard Frank L. Packard (June 11, 1866 October 26, 1923) was a prominent architect in Ohio. Many of his works were under the firm Yost & Packard, a company co-owned by Joseph W. Yost. Life and career Frank Lucius Packard was born June 11, 1866 in ...

(1866-1923) *

David Riebel David Riebel (August 7, 1855 – July 29, 1935) was a German-American architect in Columbus, Ohio. He was the head architect for the Columbus public school district from 1893 to 1922. In 1915, ''The Ohio Architect, Engineer and Builder'' considere ...

(1855-1935) *

Howard Dwight Smith Howard Dwight Smith (February 21, 1886 – April 27, 1958) was an architect most known for his designs of Ohio Stadium (completed in 1922) for which he was awarded the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal for Public Building Design. E ...

(1886-1958) *

Elah Terrell Elah Terrell (18511920) was an American architect from Columbus, Ohio. Terrell designed important buildings under the company Elah T. Terrell & Co. in Ohio, notably in Sheffield, Lorain County, and Columbus. Terrell was a member of the Ohio chapt ...

(1851-1920) *

Todd Tibbals Todd Tibbals (1910March 22, 1988) was an American architect who was active in the Columbus, Ohio area in the middle part of the twentieth century. Early years Tibbals was born in 1910 to a successful engineer and entrepreneur, Charles E. Tibbals ...

(1910-1988) * Joseph W. Yost (1847-1923)

Architecture firms

* Allied Architects Association of Columbus *

Brubaker/Brandt Brubaker/Brandt was an architecture firm based in Columbus, Ohio. The firm completed some of the tallest buildings affecting the city's skyline including the 42-story Rhodes State Office Tower and the Continental Center, along with other notable b ...

* DesignGroup *

Harrison & Abramovitz Harrison & Abramovitz (also known as Harrison, Fouilhoux & Abramovitz; Harrison, Abramovitz, & Abbe; and Harrison, Abramovitz, & Harris) was an American architectural firm based in New York and active from 1941 through 1976. The firm was a partner ...

Howell & Thomas Howell & Thomas was an American architectural partnership formed by Carl Eugene Howell (1879–1930) and James William Thomas, Jr. (1876–1973) in Columbus, Ohio, and later, Cleveland, Ohio, that designed many residences for wealthy clients betw ...

MKSK MKSK is an American landscape architecture and urban design firm. The company is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Attributes MKSK is headquartered in the Brewery District of Columbus, Ohio, and has six regional offices. It has approximately 100 em ...

Moody Nolan Moody Nolan is based in Columbus, Ohio and is the largest African-American owned and operated architecture firm in the United States. In 2021, it was the recipient of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Architecture Firm Award. The firm pro ...

NBBJ NBBJ is an American global architecture, planning and design firm with offices in Boston, Columbus, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Pune, San Francisco, Seattle, Shanghai, and Washington, D.C.. NBBJ provides services in arch ...

Richards, McCarty & Bulford Richards, McCarty & Bulford was an American architectural firm. The General Services Administration has called the firm the "preeminent" architectural firm of the city of Columbus, Ohio. A number of the firm's works are listed on the National ...

* Schooley Caldwell *

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, they were joined by engineer John Merrill. The firm ...

* Stribling & Lum *

References

External links

AIA Columbus
{{Architecture in the United States

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

Culture of Columbus, Ohio