Is the Laclede Gas Building really an historic building?  I would argue yes, as it represents a moment in architectural history when the theories of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier were reigning supreme around the world.

The building represents St. Louis’s response to the Mies van der Rohe’s Seagram Building (now impotently named 375 Park Avenue) in New York City, where the curtain wall has completely turned transparent, as it is no longer needed to support the building.

Mechanical systems are arranged either in the penthouse of the skyscraper, or half-way up the tower.