Marina City

Identification

Map

Facts

• The twin towers of Marina City were the tallest apartment buildings in the world when completed.
• The residential floors of the twin towers sit on top of 15-story spiral parking garages.
• An artificial lagoon was built under the complex's concourse to hold a private marina.
• The Marina City towers are by far the tallest cylindrical buildings in Illinois. The next-tallest is the Wyndham Springfield City Centre in Springfield, and the only other cylindrical skyscrapers in Chicago are the Hilliard Senior Homes (also designed by Bertrand Goldberg).
• The project consists of two corncob-shaped apartment towers, a 13-story hotel, a theater building used by the House of Blues, and a marina on the Chicago River.
• During construction the apartment towers' central cores were built to full height before most of the habitable structure was raised around them. This created the illusion of giant chimneys being built on prime real estate.
• Each unit in the residential towers opens onto a 5.5 meter (18-foot) wide balcony on one of the "petals".
• In 1964 a steel antenna was built on top of one of the towers, reaching a total height from ground level of 969 feet. The antenna has since been dismantled.
• The very innovative design of Marina City I and II earned them a 1965 award from the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
• Each of the twin towers is surrounded by 16 semi-circular balconies that mark the end of the petal-shaped apartments, ensuring that maximum amount of light can enter the building.
• Each tower is based on a huge, 32-foot diameter central core which forms the backbone of the structure.