The Humana Building, also known as the Humana Tower, is a 1985

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

in downtown

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, located at 500 West Main Street and headquarters of the

Humana Humana Inc. is an American for-profit health insurance company based in Louisville, Kentucky. In 2024, the company ranked 92 on the Fortune 500 list, which made it the highest ranked (by revenues) company based in Kentucky. It is the fourth l ...

Corporation. It was built by the Auchter Company.

Description

The 26-story structure is headquarters of the

Corporation, and was designed by the Driehaus Prize winner and

New Classical New classical macroeconomics, sometimes simply called new classical economics, is a school of thought in macroeconomics that builds its analysis entirely on a neoclassical economics, neoclassical framework. Specifically, it emphasizes the import ...

architect

Michael Graves Michael Graves (July 9, 1934 – March 12, 2015) was an American architect, designer, and educator, and principal of Michael Graves and Associates and Michael Graves Design Group. He was a member of The New York Five and the Memphis Group and ...

. Construction began in October 1982 and was completed in May 1985. Each side of the building is designed slightly differently, up to a sloping pyramid style for the upper few floors. The building is also known for its exterior construction of flat pink granite. The north facade's

loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior Long gallery, gallery or corridor, often on an upper level, sometimes on the ground level of a building. The corridor is open to the elements because its outer wall is only parti ...

is respectful of the older downtown architecture, being flush with the original Main Street storefronts. The open-air front portion of the loggia contains a large fountain. The large, curved portion towards the top of the building is an open-air observation deck. The outermost point of the circle has space for a few people at a time to be surrounded by glass, allowing for views of the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

and Main Street. The observation deck has not been open to the public since the

September 11 terrorist attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. At the site of the Humana Building previously stood the six-story

Kenyon Building The Kenyon Building was the first skyscraper in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. Standing six stories tall, the building was located on Fifth Street, between Main and Market Streets. The building was razed in 1974 and would eventually become t ...

, which was the first skyscraper in Louisville. Completed in 1886, that building was razed in 1974.

Awards

The

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

awarded the Humana Building the National Honor Award in 1987. ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine listed it as one of the ten best buildings of the 1980s.

References

External links

* in Louisville
Analysis and detail pictures
{{Coord, 38, 15, 23.35, N, 85, 45, 31.28, W, type:landmark, display=title Office buildings completed in 1985 Michael Graves buildings Architecture in Kentucky Skyscraper office buildings in Louisville, Kentucky Postmodern architecture in the United States New Classical architecture in the United States Humana