John R. Viise

John Viise is the Managing Principal of DeSimone’s Chicago office. His experience includes high-rise and specialty structures around the world. His area of expertise includes wind and seismic engineering in tall building design.

Mr. Viise’s most recent work in Chicago includes 900 W Randolph, a 500-foot-tall, condominium tower that achieves a slender form without the need for costly outriggers, and Lincoln Yards, a 22-story, 637,000 square foot building comprised of ground floor retail, office space, and parking. Other domestic experience includes the proposed Paramount Tower, a 750-foot-tall residential high-rise in Nashville, Tennessee, which will be the city’s tallest building.

Mr. Viise’s portfolio of work in the Gulf Region includes The Burj Khalifa, a 2,717-foot tower in Dubai; a proposed 3,280-foot residential building known as The Dubai One Tower; the 1,250-foot Burj Mohammed Bin Rashid tower at the World Trade Center in Abu Dhabi; and Al Wasl Plaza, which consists of a steel trellis spanning 492 feet surrounded by two hotel buildings and three office towers. Al Wasl Plaza will debut as part of Expo 2020 in Dubai.

In Asia, his work includes the 1,017-foot Pearl River Tower in Guangzhou, China, the 853-foot Samsung China Headquarters in Beijing, and the award-winning Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Mr. Viise also led design on the Pasifik Ciftay EGO Landmark Tower, a 46-story office tower in Ankara, Turkey which is the city’s tallest building. The structure contains more than 1.6 million square feet and required Performance Based Seismic Design for approval.

Mr. Viise received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and his Masters of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

In academia, Mr. Viise periodically lectures at universities around the country and participates in architectural jury work with institutions including The Harvard Graduate School of Design.