Occupying a space preordained by the American Institute of Architects in the early 1960s for a “tall slab” in the redesign/redevelopment of downtown Wilmington, Del., according to the Society of Architectural Historians, Wilmington Tower (background) arrived in quasi-Brutalist style from the drawing board of the world-renowned I.M. Pei starting in 1968. Now known locally as “the I.M. Pei Building,” this 22-story, 286-foot blade was commissioned in 1964 by and for the American Life Insurance Co. but quickly ran into budgetary and functional difficulties and wasn’t completed until 1971. It is the only Pei design in Delaware. (2019)