The architecture of

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

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 to the north and west ...

(for the

Ohio Statehouse The Ohio Statehouse is the List of state and territorial capitols in the United States, 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, Ohio, ...

) 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 th ...

. The city was founded on February 14, 1812. Columbus has experienced numerous short spans of population growth and building development. One early growth took place in the late 19th century, leading many buildings around the city to be constructed in the

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a architectural style, style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revivalism (architecture), revival style incorporates 11th- and 12th-century ...

style, popular during that time. 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 th ...

" 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, state office building and skyscraper on Capitol Square in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. The Rhodes Tower is the List of tallest buildings in Columbus, Ohio, tallest building in Columbus and the ...

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 skyscrape ...

# William Green Building # Huntington Center #

Vern Riffe State Office Tower The Vern Riffe State Office Tower is a skyscraper on Capitol Square in downtown Columbus, Ohio. It was completed in 1988 and has 32 floors. NBBJ designed the building, which is the fifth-tallest in Columbus, and has 102,192 m2 of floor area. An ...

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

Franklin County Courthouse Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historica ...

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 headqua ...

Notable architects

Individual architects

* Nathan Kelley (1808–1871) * George Bellows Sr. (1829–1913) *

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

(1846–1912) * Joseph W. Yost (1847–1923) *

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, Ohio, Sheffield, Lorain County, and Columbus. Terrell was a member o ...

(1851–1920) *

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 City Schools, Columbus public school district from 1893 to 1922. In 1915, ''The Ohio Architect, Engineer ...

(1855–1935) * Herbert A. Linthwaite (1858–1929) *

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, ...

(1866–1923) * Harry Hake (1871 – 1955) *

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) *

Todd Tibbals Todd Tibbals (1910 – March 22, 1988) was an American architect who was active in the Columbus, Ohio area in the middle part of the twentieth century. Early life and education Alfred "Todd" Tibbals was born in 1910 to a successful engineer and e ...

(1910–1988) * W. Byron Ireland (c. 1930-1982) *

Peter Eisenman Peter David Eisenman (born August 11, 1932) is an American architect, writer, and professor. Considered one of the New York Five, Eisenman is known for his high modernist and deconstructive designs, as well as for his authorship of several archi ...

(1932–)

Architecture firms

* Allied Architects Association of Columbus * Brubaker/Brandt * 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 * MKSK *

Moody Nolan Moody Nolan, founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1983, is the largest African-American-owned and operated architecture firm in the United States, with 12 offices nationwide. In 2021, it was the recipient of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Ar ...

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

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 Re ...

* Schooley Caldwell *

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill SOM, an initialism of its original name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by engineer ...

* 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, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

Culture of Columbus, Ohio