The design simultaneously looks forward with advanced architectural tectonics (of the time) and back to recapture the grandeur of large public spaces.

Visitors to the Thompson Center's interior can see all 17 floors layered partway around the building's immense sky-lit atrium.

Single-paned (non-insulated), curved glass panels were eventually used, and resulted in the need for a more expensive air conditioning system, which remains very costly to operate, and is insufficient on hot days; internal temperatures have reached as high as 90 °F (32 °C).

The sculpture formerly at the front entrance by French artist Jean Dubuffet[6] set the tone for the building which housed a public art collection.

[13] In 2015,[14] and again in 2017, Governor Bruce Rauner also proposed selling the property, and a legislative committee to explore his request was announced by Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan in February 2017, though it was effectively a non-starter under his administration due to his two-year state budget impasse, which itself led to more deferred maintenance in regards to the Thompson Center.

[17][18] In 2016–2017, filmmaker and cultural heritage activist Nathan Eddy directed a short documentary film about Thompson Center – Starship Chicago.

B. Pritzker signed a bill to begin the sale of the Thompson Center, with a proposed three-year timeline to find a buyer.

The State of Illinois was to receive an initial payment of $70 million for the purchase of the property and would still retain 425,000 square feet (39,500 m2) of office space.

Of this amount, $30 million would be a cash payment and the remainder would be used to purchase the Harris Bank Addition II which would be renovated to become the new home of state offices in Chicago.

[22][23] The Thompson Center has been a filming location in several motion pictures, including 2000's The Watcher and 1990's The Kid Who Loved Christmas.