Marina City
Practically everyone in Chicago knows about Marina City if you ask them. There are really two parts, Marina City l and Marina City ll. But, for the purposes of this website, we'll just pretend they're attached. So... Marina City's towers are 60 stories tall. They were built in 1964 by Bertrand GoldBerg, who just happened to be a student of Mies van der Rohe. Marina City has apartments, recreation facilities, offices, restaurants, banks, a theater, a dock at the Chicago River under the towers, and 18 stories of parking space! Marina City was an experimental complex, financed by unions who were worried that all the people from the cities in the early 60's would lead to a down in jobs. The complex was when it was built the biggest ever complex built in concrete. It's shape was in contrast with the contemporary architectural comcepts of straight lines and square apartment buildings. The shape, cylinder like, was used to have less wind pressure. The architect was smart, (I've noticed they tend to be) and used reinforced concrete instead of the usual steel. This was because that was the only material that he could use for the petal shapes of the apartments that he intended.