Michael Graves designed the 26-story Humana Building at 500 West Main Street, completed in May 1985 in flat pink granite. This 1985 skyscraper, built by the Auchter Company, was designed by Michael Graves, the Driehaus Prize winner and New Classical architect. Construction began in October 1982 and was completed in May 1985.
Each side of the building is designed slightly differently, rising in places to a sloping pyramid for the upper few floors. Take in the exterior of flat pink granite—its color and planar stone give it an almost sculptural quality against the skyline. On the north facade a loggia sits flush with the original Main Street storefronts, an intentional nod to the older downtown fabric; step a little closer and you can feel the presence of the open-air front portion with its large fountain.
Higher up you can spot the building’s large, curved portion — an open-air observation deck whose outermost point holds space for a few people surrounded by glass, arranged to frame views of the Ohio River and Main Street. That observation deck has not been open to the public since the September 11 terrorist attacks. Granite, loggia, fountain, and that curved observation deck: you can trace all four in one slow climb up the facade.