Why Everyone Wants to Live in These Corn Cobs
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- Опубліковано 3 чер 2024
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Marina City, or Chicago's Corn Cobs are some of my favorite buildings in the city. Designed by Bertrand Goldberg in the mid 1960s, the structures were the tallest concrete structures in the world at the time of construction. More than that though, the design fundamentally questioned how people might live in the city. It was also the first mixed-use development to include commercial and residential together. In this video, we explore Marina City for both it's design and the impact it's had on the development of Chicago.
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Architecture with Stewart is a UA-cam journey exploring architecture’s deep and enduring stories in all their bewildering glory. Weekly videos and occasional live events breakdown a wide range of topics related to the built environment in order to increase their general understanding and advocate their importance in shaping the world we inhabit.
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Stewart Hicks is an architectural design educator that leads studios and lecture courses as an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also serves as an Associate Dean in the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts and is the co-founder of the practice Design With Company. His work has earned awards such as the Architecture Record Design Vanguard Award or the Young Architect’s Forum Award and has been featured in exhibitions such as the Chicago Architecture Biennial and Design Miami, as well as at the V&A Museum and Tate Modern in London. His writings can be found in the co-authored book Misguided Tactics for Propriety Calibration, published with the Graham Foundation, as well as essays in MONU magazine, the AIA Journal Manifest, Log, bracket, and the guest-edited issue of MAS Context on the topic of character architecture.
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University of Illinois at Chicago School of Architecture: arch.uic.edu/
#architecture #urbandesign
A Marina City resident once took me up to the rooftop and demonstrated the echo between the two buildings by clapping loudly while standing at the edge between the “stems” of the two towers. It was one of the most indescribable noises I had ever heard, as though the curves of the buildings and their individual balconies were acting like a gigantic synthesizer, modulating and warping the common sound into something new and alien. Yeah, the architecture and history of the place is great, but have you tried clapping?
Need a vid of this
I wanna clap that 💦
Yes. But what is the sound of one hand clapping?
If this were Reddit, I'd give you an award.
this needs a smarter every day episode, where is destin?
We live in Marina City in the early 1980's until the 90's. My husband grew up in Canada and I grew upon the far south side of Chicago and then later we moved to the suburbs when I was in high school. After I met my husband and we started house hunting. He had a seat on the CBOT Chicago Board of Trade. At the time I didn't want to live in the burbs and he didn't want to live in the city. Then he though about the early morning commute in the winter. We moved to Marina City into a 2-bdrm with 2.5 balconies. When friends visited they parked in the building. The balconies were large and friends loved it when we had parties. When a neighbor invited us to go sailing, his boat was dock in the marina in the building .We could go to the restaurants, movies, bowling, banking, health club, groceries, salon, and uniformed doorman. Could get a taxi in a snap for a ride up Michigan Ave for shopping. It was a great place to live. We move to the burbs when we started a family. It was hard to let go, but life moves on.
I lived in the east tower for 8 years. The apartments are like pizza slices which make finding furniture to match a nightmare lol. One nice side effect of the balconies is that you often had conversation with neighbors to the left and right of you, and even below you. I often would go out onto the balcony during hot summer nights and I would find a guy in the sister building across from me play guitar softly. We'd nod to each other and carry on looking out at our views.
I dated a guy who lived in these in the 90's. I think back then they were called Marina Towers. And you're right, it was shaped like a pizza slice. He had a studio and it was even smaller. I loved when it got dark and I could look out at the all the twinkling lights in the distance. I lived in a house on Hermitage and Irving Park road and it was my first time in a high rise.
The whole thing was a terrible idea. I had a friend who lived there and you basically have to step over homeless drug addicts who may or may not attack you, depending on their current state of maggot infested inebriation. The river stinks. The maddening street noise echoes all the way up to the highest floors. Best of all you live in the inner-city loop of one of the world's most violent and crime-ridden cities. A sweet bonus as of 2023, you have an actual Marxist as a mayor. So yeah, iconic... and total garbage.
Exactly! I had table-height bruises on my legs for about 6 months after moving there. Fitting small rectangles in a triangle is way harder than it looks. Did you ever climb from your balcony to your neighbors? I didn't but saw it twice.
So each apartment has a balcony, in the living room I assume, so where are the windows of the other rooms?
I had friends that lived in a unit about 15 years ago. I visited his and a double unit upstairs from his. They are the most ghastly misuse of space in the history of building.
You will always be able to use more of a rectangle than a pizza slice.
P.s. most of us chicagoians prefer square cut pizzas too.
My Grandfather was one of the Welders who contributed to the building of Marina City. I have always love them and felt an affinity to the buildings.
👍
Marina City is proof that brutalism doesn't have to be ugly and soulless.
Doesn’t qualify as brutalism then
Anti-human trash. Misanthropic and evil.
I thought the point of brutalism was to be ugly and soulless and in conflict with its surroundings
@yungrich.nbroke @NeDeS Brutalism is a really complicated architectural style that is hard to qualify. At its absolute, the term brutalism comes from the French phrase "béton brut," which means "raw concrete," and refers to the extensive use of concrete as the primary building material and structure. Concrete was a relatively new material, and it can be used to seamlessly flow from floor to walls to ceilings, allowing shapes that are impossible in other materials, and also blurring structural elements with ornamentation. Ideologically, Brutalism was a response to three things: the necessity to build housing quickly and cheaply after the War, the perceived opportunity to rebuild cities better and more equitably from the ashes, and to carry the previous trends toward accentuating function over ornamentation as the source of beauty. In short: utility and utopia. This is why it was so popular in the USSR. Unfortunately, this is a hard design ethos to execute well. Ikea makes simple, utilitarian furniture with clean lines well; Walmart does not. Utopia is a concept impossible to achieve. It's right there in the name, since utopia means "no place" in ancient Greek. Architects are definitely NOT the people who can create Utopias, though they sure try. Le Corbusier was infamous for this. He was also an advocate for authoritarianism and fascism. Allison and Peter Smithson were genuine and sincere, but misguided on their execution (and also tyrannical). Public housing projects also fell victim to public funding, and that very soon ran out. Concrete does not age well, and Brutalist designers didn't take that into account. Marina City is an example of Brutalism, 100%. It's made of concrete in sculptural forms, it combines different uses for residents together into one complex in an effort to revitalize downtown and create a new lifestyle, and it was built post-War. Broom, Brutalism. It's just one of the very, very few examples of Brutalism that is universally considered beautiful. It has also been well maintained over the years. Another aspect is that those residential units may once have been affordable and middle class, but now they're luxury accomodations - something that applies to other successful Brutalist complexes across the world (particularly in Britain).
@@gregoryferraro7379 Nice write up. Thanks
Been living in the complex as a renter for almost 2 years and have loved it more and more! After moving here, I’ve learned to appreciate good design - in particular, Goldberg’s masterful use of space. The original units take good consideration of a room’s size in relation to its function and usage. For example, the bathroom is the smallest room in the unit which reflects its infrequent use throughout the day when compared to other rooms. I only wish more towers like these existed elsewhere since the winter keeps us from fully enjoying the balconies year-round! I guess that’s what keeps the rent relatively affordable!
Have you had a chance to clap from the rooftops like that other commenter said?
Can you by any chance show the inside of it? A tour as such? And what's the range of the rent? Just curious. 🧐🙂
Is it not common for the bathroom to be the smallest room in Chicago?
My friend converted the closet her stacked washer/dryer was in on the middle floor of her townhouse to a bathroom, and took out a section of bedroom closet above it to put the washer/dryer. 3 story townhouse was stupidly designed with 2 bathrooms on the top floor, no bathrooms on middle floor, and garage+entry on bottom floor. So it's a really small, claustrophobic bathroom... but it works. (Just toilet and very thin sink, of course.)
I'm guessing that, being "older" architecture, things like noise are not an issue, as they are in modern apts/buildings. As a lifelong renter, being able to hear my neighbors simply _talking_ or just walking around is tops on my list of "what I hate about renting." And I have to admit, you make me a bit "jelly!" 😉
Lived on the 60th (?... can't recall anymore I was 12 when we moved in) floor of the south tower 1976-1978 with my mother. They were very quiet. Had everything you needed. Several TV shows and films were made on location when we lived there. Great video and the host is most handsome!
I agree 😉
The thing that really gets me about these buildings is that from the outside, they illustrate clearly how much of our livable space is taken up by cars.
I hope the next time the building undergoes heavy renovation they convert as much of the parking as possible into new units or amenities. Though that will probably be very hard since the parking surface is slanted
@@HeavyRayne it's not something that could be converted just by how it's built, also where would all of the residents park? Literal hundreds of cars to fill 14 floors, residents would be parking miles away from home.
Cars care living space. We can't all be little borg ants that ride the bus every day
@@ForageGardener if your car is your living space you are homeless. Hope things get better for you!
@@Kursplunky I live across the river lol. There's more than enough parking in the area for residents. And it's not impossible to convert slanted parking garages into units of other amenities.
Stewart Hicks needs his own talk show where he gabs about architecture and Chicago history all day.
That's what UA-cam basically is.
He does, it's on UA-cam and he's great at it.
@@usa1mac What's the name of the channel? This channel only has these 15 minute or less videos.
@@roccobierman4985that’s the maximum attention span people have nowadays anyway
An ex of mine lived there about 15 years ago. The apartment was spacious and the balcony was so large, (basically a half circle, 20' wide) I joked that it was like having a yard in the sky. The rooftop views are beyond stupendous. I took in many a fireworks show and many an evening just looking out at the city. Good times, I will always cherish the time spent there.
The balconies are large enough that you could use them without feeling claustrophobic. The circular design makes this possible. A great idea by the architects.
I hadn't thought of that. Yeah, 4th of July would be awesome there. I've lived in places on hills where it was hard to count how many fireworks displays there were off in the distance; Chicago should be llike that only more so!
The rooftop views are amazing but the apartments themselves are...well, they're apartments. They're still kinda mid, especially considering how fucking expensive Marina Towers is to live in. Nobody's trying to live there lol
Awesome; bet you're White. 😂
What did they do for a living?
Funfact, in Katowice (Silesia in Poland) there are residential high rise buildings which are based on Chicago’s Marina City, they were heavily inspired, even it’s official name is “Kukurydze” which literally mean corn of the cobs 🌽
I saw similar buildings in Ukraine and Russia 🌽
certain architecture standards were common among eastern block nation I guess @@Da...
Tylko problem jest że komuna zniszczyła cały urok tych budynków
I have lived in Chicago my entire life(53 years). I was always downtown as a child and was very familiar with Marina City but was never inside. In the early 90's the plan took shape to restore the buildings and was halted for years. In the mid late 90's I was a bike messenger and visited the towers often during the renovation. I couldn't understand how anyone was still living there before the work. It was depressing and dated. The hallways were dark even though they were painted a weird peach color. The elevators were a nightmare prone to breaking down and most of the apartments were studios going for $1200...in 1998! I remember someone driving their car off the garage at least once. It is nice now and House Of Blues is cool but yeah, it took a lot to get it ready for the migration of Gen Y and Z.
It’s crazy because they are like $2000 now in Chicago for a studio.
The driving off the garage happened twice. Once was for a film, once was for a commercial. Never by accident.
@@MegamibunnyA studio in downtown Toronto is 2500
I lived on the 50th floor of Marina City for 8 years. Fantastic place! I had a dream of buying the unit above me and having a spiral staircase connecting the two units.
Would that theoretically have been possible? Not just construction wise but also legally?
@@stadtjer689 probably not. You would have to be compromising the strength of the reinforced concrete floor/ceiling.
Sometimes it can be done - we rented a 3bdrm, 3 bath unit in the Outer Drive East bldg that used to be three 1bdrms, with 2 on one floor and the third one on the next floor up. They were able to cut thru the ceiling/floor and put in a staircase. but it wasn’t a poured cement bldg.
@@stadtjer689 I cant speak on connection an upstairs unit together, but someone in marina towers bought the place next to his and tore down the walls to make a giant unit.
@@kev60625 it is hard to know the structural details of cost concrete buildings from the 50s, but in newer buildings often times partitions are not structural so this is a more and more doable thing in post tensioned buildings
Been living in the towers since I moved here in 2020. As an architect I've always loved these towers. So ahead of their time. Living here provides daily inspiration. I wish this building typology had been applied to more buildings in the US since their completion though. Normally high rise apartments with balconies are only reserved for those that can afford a penthouse or premium condominium. Having a small balcony to step outside and ventilate the apartment along with large windows for light should be standardized for high rise apartments. Studio Gang's Aquatower does this amazingly well and apartments there are similarly priced to Marina City's proving this can be replicated and applied even today. Anyways, amazing video. I even learned a couple new things. Shoutout to the dudes and dudettes working the car valet service. They're out there 24/7 rain or shine sun or snow. Its incredibly convenient having the option for car access.
Nothing against the building. I visited an apartment once many years ago. I had an office nearby that had a balcony and it was unusable 90% of the time. Too windy, too cold, and too many spiders.
You are living my dream! I just left the comment on how I nearly took out a studio in the 90s when I came to Chicago for University as it was actually affordable at that time!
In the end I opted for another apartment in the Gold Coast but oh, to have one of those balconies!! Balconies not only reserved for the penthouse and upper floors but each and every apartment! I could imagine stringing Christmas lights and having each and every meal outside as weather allowed!
My friends thought I was crazy as is so windy in the area but I always blamed the wind on the IBM building. It was so windy at the base that they were ropes strung out almost like a rope queue so people could grab on in case a gust caught them off-guard.
Yeah, that's my only reservation about the place -- some people have to drive up the ramp 14 stories to their car space? On the other hand, skating down the ramp...
@@elhoward7440 Nobody drives their car up 14 stories, it is now a valet, as the comment says.
Architect here too 👍
my grama used to work at River City, which was also designed by him and in right downtown chicago. i have many awesome memories there..she worked there for about 25 years as their accountant. magical place in the 90’s :)
I lived there in a partially renovated unit for a few months around 2018. They were redoing the balconies and the roof, so I never got up to the roof, but my balcony was only closed for about two days during that time.
It surprised me how well thought out they were. I expected furniture placement to be a pain in the ass, but at least in the studio, it wasn’t an issue. The narrowest part was split between the hall and the entrance to the bathroom. The narrowest part of the bathroom was a linen closet, then the sink, then the toilet, and the broadest end had a bathtub with storage around the edges. Kitchen was against the reverse of the bathtub wall, fridge and stove with some counter space, a bar area opposite. From that point outward the room was quite spacious. I had the bed facing the window, backed up against the wall of the kitchen, nightstand in the corner where the angle might have been noticeable. Having a full wall of windows made it light and airy, I used a film on the windows rather than curtains to keep it that way.
The crazy thing was the balcony was so big, it was about half the size of the entire apartment. If I’d lived there longer, I’d have furnished it better, but I just kept the stuff the previous tenant left behind, and that was fine. My unit had a decent view. It faced the other building almost directly, but a semicircle balcony means plenty of room to look in other directions, and I had a great view of the river.
It was a lovely place to live, but even as the cheapest place in downtown, ruinously expensive since it was just a place I lived in for work during the week - the rent there was more than twice the mortgage payment for my 2300sf home 2 hours away, and the job didn’t pay well enough for me to leave there with much of a profit. But the commute to work from there was elevator downstairs, stop in the little underground grocery store for an iced coffee, walk west to the stairs to street level, cross the street, angle to the plaza to 353 n Clark, and take the elevator to my office. Maybe 5m not counting getting a coffee.
The footage of Marina City in the background of your talking head shot is CLEAN. This felt like a complete documentary, story and all, but is somehow less than 15 minutes. Not a second wasted- bravo!
-Mike
Thank you! You can always spot that fx6 footage!
@@stewarthicks came here to say the same thing. Geoffery Baer WTTW level. Top notch.
Yeah; way to go Whitey.😂
@@christopherleander9068huh
I grew up in Chicago in the 1960s, and I’ve always been fascinated by Marina City. I never imagined those spectacular buildings were designed for housing the middle class. It’s amazing now to see how the surrounding neighborhood looked then. The early residents enjoyed million-dollar views, before all the other high-rises popped up.
My mom always taken us downtown during the day while my father was at work. It was always an adventure. Until this day besides the name I've never understood the difference between Marshall Field's and Wieboldt's that was on State Street. They both sold the same merchandise and both had the same dark green shopping bags.
I think it's funny how everybody here in the Chi kind of agrees that Marina Towers are horribly ugly looking, but we also kind of love and accept them as part of the city because they're so unique looking.
My Grandfather took us there back in the 60's one time when we visited him and Grandma.
can you imagine living in a place like that in the 50s. these towers are so ahead of their time. it would have been wild.
I can't even imagine being able to afford any property...
and much less expensive compared to now
Bertrand Goldberg is among my architects and I always appreciate seeing Marina City when I'm in the city.
Love these buildings. Any view in which they're visible is immediately identifiable as Chicago. Anyone having the slightest familiarity with downtown Chicago instantly knows them by their description. They are the very definition of landmarks.
I first became aware of these buildings when I read Gunsmith Cats, a manga about a bounty hunter set in Chicago which along with exacting research into guns, cars and other details uses a lot of unique Chicago locations like these, many of which make Chicago the city I'd probably most like to visit if I ever came to the US. In the story, a car bomb is set off in the parking garage and artist Kenichi Sonoda devotes a whole page to a picture of it (vol 1 p. 172, ch7 title page), and when I saw a photo years later I was surprised and impressed that they were actually real buildings. I always wanted to know more - very happy to see this and learn some of the history behind them! I'll watch the nebula cut soon.
I have the anime of Gunsmith Cats on VHS. Some great action sequences in it including one chase under the old Post office building and congress expressway.
Chiraq
The hunter with Steve McQueen give it a watch
Marina Towers has some of the best rooftop views of any building in this city but the apartments themselves are...well, they're apartments, so by definition they're pretty mid.
They still exist in Chicago
Chicago was designed supremely well, and our corn cob towers are a testament to that. I highly recommend the architecture boat tour for visitors, to learn how contextualism built our amazing cityscape. Great video! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
The river architecture tour was one of my favorite activities when visiting. The tour guide was charismatic and knowledgeable. Not a boring moment. Would love to do it again.
No, our "corn cob towers" really aren't a testament to good design lol Marina Towers is an eyesore, and the apartments are triangular with angled walls and it makes putting furniture or artwork up an absolute hassle. Not to mention the design of the parking garage which causes horrible icing problems in the winter. The views are superb though, and the rooftop is amazing.
I love those buildings! My dad took a business trip to Chicago and came back with slides of the city when I was little. Those buildings were my favorite. This was before we had a TV so a good old fashioned slide show was the best!
My mom had a set of hair curlers that looked very similar to the buildings to me so I grew up calling them the curler buildings.
A few years ago I was sent to Chicago on business and I took an architectural boat tour. I loved those buildings even more in person.
Thank you for the great video!
If you take an architecture tour of Chicago (highly recommended) you'll note a continuous thread of development in the city's downtown which includes commercial and residential buildings. These buildings are still standouts even though there are many newer residential buildings and now knowing that they started a trend makes me appreciate them more.
I just checked units available for rent in Marina City. There are only 3 currently, priced at between $1500 (studio) and $2800 (1 br). This seems quite reasonable for a place in such an iconic building, in downtown Chicago. Great video, Stewart, thanks!
Wow, I thought that they would be much more than that by now, but considering how much apartments are going for on the east and west coast, that's comparable if you can afford it, but what is middle class anymore? Decades ago it had a ridiculous range from 20,000 to 200,000, that didn't make sense to me, because those incomes represented enormously different lifestyles.
That DOES seem reasonable. I'm surprised. Chicago is hands down my favorite city in the US. I often say it's like New York without the pretentiousness. It has great museums, a world class symphony, international cuisine, fabulous shopping, and amazing architecture. For its size, huge tracts of it are very walkable too. River North would be a wonderful place to live.
Marina city was also the inspiration for the Oscar Niemeyer towers in Rio de Janeiro. Originally the planned neighborhood of Barra da Tijuca was going to be filled with these towers, but that idea was cancelled, with only one being built and the other (named Tower H) abandoned during construction in the late 80s. Tower H only ever returned to construction last year after a fund bought the rights and managed to finally get the project back on track. Its a story worth checking out.
Thank you for making this video. The first time that I heard of Marina City was when I was introduced to Wilco as a teenager. Marina City can be found on the album art of “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.”
Same
When I visited Chicago, these buildings were by far the most distinctive and memorable, even more so than the Willis Tower. My friend I was with at the time didn't get it, but I could've stared at them for hours. Great video!
Whatcha talkin about Willis??? It's Sears tower
@@Brian-ic8db I was confused for a sec I didn't realize they changed the name.
@@stephhhie17 the name changed in 2009.. it will always be the Sears Tower even though Sears is defunct it holds a place in American history therefore the name should stick !!!
What's the Willis Tower? Never heard of it! Are you talking about the Sears Tower!?!
@@IntriguedLioness I have fond memories of Sears as a kid when my mom worked there. And I like calling buildings by their original name, like the Roger's Center will always be the SkyDome to me.
I wonder why this design didn't take off in other cities. I don't see a whole lot of negatives to it if you are into living in a dense urban environment. It doesn't seem to be cost prohibitive in the grand scheme of things. I think the problem today is that any kind of residential tower built is only for the luxury market not affordable housing. There is also the stigma of public housing towers as well. I'd be interested in just how "affordable" living here would be today.
It did, in Asia and Europe...There are not as many round towers although there are some, but the idea of a complex with housing above and businesses below is everywhere in Asia and many places in Europe. As for the US, looking at zoning laws.
I agree about residential towers being built for the luxury market in many places. Continental Europe does not have a stigma to social housing, but the UK does, the US does.
@@thesupremekai1980s the concept of a city-in-a-building has been tried all over Europe, yes, but it hasn't succeeded everywhere. They often suffer from vicious cycles of people and businesses leaving, causing rents to go up and utilities becoming more rundown, forcing more people to leave.
@@albertweber1617 Right but when it's done right, the commercial property helps pay for the general upkeep of the whole complex, as in the video. There are also bad designs. As a concept, it has to be expected properly.
Dense urban environment, as you say, IS the problem many cities are having. Density is NOT GOOD unless it's done right, and these ain't done right. They just add people to already overburdened infrastructure.
@Repent and believe in Jesus Christ hail satan :)
I've been right by these a couple times this year, but didn't realize they were so interesting. I was at the House of Blues for a couple concerts this year, and that venue is a spectacular building and interior
5-year resident here (west tower, 53rd floor). Can I suggest a part 2 of what it's like to live in a prototype? There are some serious critical takes that I think are important.
could you elaborate? i'm pretty curious. these videos always shine a washing light on everything and tend to ignore the downsides.
When I was pre teen I used to take the Metra downtown and go "urban exploring"
One of my favorite things to do was go here and ride the parking garages moving ladder up and up and up!
I went to a St. Patrick's Day party in a friend's flat in Marina City. The two-bedroom unit had an absolutely AMAZING view of the river being dyed green. The roof deck is also absolutely stunning. Just about anyone could be happy living there. My friend didn't want to leave, but eventually had to take a job in another city. If I could, I would live there in a heartbeat.
Excellent and informative video! My dad's Aunt Bess was among the very first residents of Marina City in the 1960s (40th floor, I believe). Even though I was a child at the time I distinctly remember the incredible View, at that time unhindered to Lake Michigan. But it wasn't long before other skyscrapers were built and blocked the view. Aunt Bess ended up moving to the shoreline of Lake Michigan in Milwaukee. I distinctly remember what Marina City was like in the 1960's: sleek, modern and fun. I also remember Dad driving the car round and round and round up the parking garage to get to a parking spot.
I´m an architect from Spain, and I must say that the quality of content, image, and editing of your videos is outstanding. This is a great example of how good the Internet can be. Congratulations!
Amanzing video! Really hope to visit Chicago one day!
As a Brazilian architect, this got me thinking how here in São Paulo, where I live, we have a very specific way to get more use out of our apartments, by “closing” our balconies with sliding glass panels, so we can enjoy some extra square meters in a big city with small apartments!
Architecture is pure local culture!
In many European cities that is also the case. However, even with Chicago winds, and of course the wind in the River North area which is almost as great as The Magnificent Mile these balconies not only have certain restrictions of decor but should be enjoyed as they are!
I lived in Chicago in my undergrad years and nearly took a studio in the marina Towers. The balcony was what tempted me the most.
Last year, when I moved to Seattle I noticed a tower slightly resembling one of the cobbs. So I Googled it and looked into it. It is called Tower 801 but as the expanse of the balconies is much smaller and the tower doesn't have half the aesthetic, nor do I assume the airiness, of the marina City Towers.
I will always adore Chicago, my first American hometown and a home of so much in the world of architecture!
Bom dia!
Chicago's own Copan
One of the two towers had a TV transmitting tower at the top for WLS-TV channel 7 in the 60's, with an animated light-up "circle seven" logo, that was quite an eye-catcher. After the TV station found a higher perch for their transmitter, the tower and animated sign came off and I was sad to see it go. But nowadays, in the summertime, the tower residents gather on the roof and watch movies projected against the central core, an idea Goldberg never imagined, but one that shows adaptive use by engaged residents.
Both towers were TV transmitters. The tower without the 'Circle 7 logo' was used by Channel 32 WFLD-TV. By the way, the Channel 7 tower was also used by radio station WLS-FM. The radio station (which became WDAI in 1971) moved to John Hancock Center. A few years later, WLS-TV moved to Sears Tower. Channel 7 call letters were WBKB-TV until 1968.
A roof-top open-air theater! Wow! That would be awsome in such a height!
The thought of watching a moving on that central tower all the way at the top makes my hands and feet start to sweat profusely. It sounds amazing but I don't think my fear of heights would allow it. haha
I just went to Chicago this weekend for Lollapalooza and I passed these building every night. I was really intrigued by the design so it's pretty cool to see this video get recommended to me! (My apps are listening to me to well)
I’m an interior designer in Seattle and I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never been to Chicago. But I’ve recently been thinking about going for a trip there and be inspired by the city’s incredible architecture.
I love those buildings. I lived in Chicago for 7 years and never tired of looking at them What a fun place to live!
I nearly moved into Marina City in the 90s. I had come to Chicago from Europe for my undergrad and after my first year I lived primarily in Evanston (Northwestern University).
I wanted to be in the city. I was looking for an affordable place because I was also working at the hospital / medical school. I was actually surprised that the rental price, at the time, was actually quite affordable.
I had grown up in large houses with lots of air and the great flow. To say the houses were pre-war would be an understatement as my grandparent's base was two hundred years old.
I was trying to wrap my mind around the pie shape. I love the idea of a balcony and as a student who rarely spent time at home I didn't feel constrained by a small studio apartment. In the end one of the things that changed my mind was that each pie-shaped apartment had interior bathrooms and kitchens and I was so used to air and flow.
I often regretted it as the idea is sitting on the balcony in the evening or even having my meals there was what drew me in.
I ended up getting an incredibly affordable convertible in the Gold Coast on State Street. I had access do the L / underground so that I could quickly get to the Northwestern campus and I had all of the shopping and entertainment conveniences of the Gold Coast.
River North, Mag Mile and Gold Coast became my backyard and I ran every morning through the streets, crossing the bridges.
I absolutely loved my time there and to this day Chicago feels like my American hometown. So glad I found this channel!
On my business trips to Chicago I was always fascinated by the architecture, and nowhere more than at Marina City. Thanks for the video - I've always wanted to take a peek inside, see how they work, and learn about how they came to be. (I also spent a lot of time at The House of Blues in their shadow - I think a part of the original design. Perfect juxtaposition for Chicago!) I admire these buildings so much.
Thanks for covering this masterpiece. I used to be a river guide and always loved how Goldberg's mentor Mies Van Dr Rohe has the IBM building next door in stark contrast. I have many memories at the house of blues under those two towers.
I’d love to know a bit more about why we don’t see more buildings built in the circular style of Marina City - such a smart way to build, and yet, not a common design to see nowadays.
He listed some benefits but neglected some of the drawbacks, its not a particularly efficient use of space. The big residential blocks we are used to seeing in urban areas are able to house more people for a given volume, making a strong economic motivation for the layout.
Round is more expensive, and as I've learned from my AFrame, non-square makes fitting furniture difficult. That being said, the round section being the picture windows means you wouldn't want any furniture up against he round part anyway. All the furniture should be facing the windows instead.
@@DrewLSsix I would like to see a comparison between the number of residents in a rectilinear building with the same interior square footage as Marina City. I think those towers are particularly efficient because they mix different size units on the same floor, so there's no wasted space, especially with kitchens and bathrooms towards the core inside. Also the outside balcony space is unparalleled for every unit, not just a few corner apartments or penthouses. It may cost more to build round projects, but I'm not sure they house fewer people, IDK...
Bertrand Goldberg's unique design can be seen in other projects in Chicago. River City, below Congress, on the south branch of the Chicago River, which was slated to include huge circular towers as well, but never materialized. The Hilliard Homes, in the South Side. He also designed the Prentice Women's Hospital, in Streeterville, which despite the efforts by preservationists, was recently demolished. Proving that structures built only a few decades ago, are not free from the danger of demolition in Chicago.
It is not "smart way to build". It was a fine idea, but it is not better than perpendicular towers. There are round towers in my city (Katowice) and they have serious problems. I've been to an apartment in one of nearby round towers (also called corn cobs even though its different continent) and it was divided up for 3 students and each room was screwy. Balcony was fine just like the Chicago example, but with such bad rooms it was not quite worth it. Also only outside edge is lit so anything in the back has to rely on artificial light. Of course no furniture fits it well unless you leave a lot of open space and just plop a few pieces facing the window. This is good for bachelor pad or for a young couple with little stuff. If you need rooms, or somewhere to put stuff, the efficiency of "slice of pizza" apt shape is really low.
In Augsburg Germany we have a hotel tower that looks like the little brother of the two Marina City towers. The closest I'll ever get to them anyway 😄
My first high rise view! Ive been here many times but I still learned new things about Marina City from your piece. Thanks!
Another great video! Fun fact - my relative lived here 2011-2016 or so, said the whole building had a massive rat problem. Even saw some in his unit! Wild... Chicago. ha.
For me this is 60's Jetsons modernism par excellance
Great video Stewart. There is a 1960s film "Goldstein" in which the Marina towers and city itself are essentially characters in the big picture. There is a memorable sequence driving up the 14 floor parking levels. The old Ogden bridge overpass and the Playboy mansion were also featured prominently. There was one scene at the Prudential tower observation deck , which was then the tallest downtown building. It's hard to find but worth a look if you have not seen it.
Michael Jordan also lived there from 1986-1988
I discovered my love of street/city photography in Chicago & two of my favorite photos are a pair I took of the Marina City towers.
I lived in a home built by Architect Garwood Andresen in Cherry Hills, CO. It was built from the wooden arch shaped molds from Marina City. They were shipped to Denver via rail. Frank Lloyd Wrights grand daughter Elizabeth lived next door.
I'd tell anyone else to shave it - but Stewart clearly has a load bearing mustache.
A load bearing moustache? I guess your gaydar is just better than mine
@@iroxursoxwithjello YOU CANT JUST SAY THAT
Stache is awesome!
Ohhhhh hoooooneeeeeeyyyyy
With great mustache comes great information
i don't know why, but these towers were always a definitive symbol of chicago for me. when i last visited, i went on the shoreline architecture cruise and this building caught my attention and now i can tell whenever a movie or show was filmed there because i see these towers in the background lol
Thank you for being a guiding light! I've vener even heard about these "sunflowers". Now I def need to go there!
Amazing buildings, look up Caribbean Coast Tung Chung Hong Kong. The concept is alive and well. I have lived there 10+ years and doubt I would go back to living in a house. When all residents do their best to be good neighbors there is harmony and shared resources and wonderful convenience.
When I was a child, those always reminded me of stumps covered with bracket fungus, particularly when lit at night.
A stunning complex - I remember first seeing Marina City on a visit to Chicago in the early 2000s -I’ve been fascinated by it ever since.
Awesome video, thank you.
While the Marina City Towers are iconic gems of the Chicago riverwalk, I didn’t find that anyone was dying to live there. I lived in River North and didn’t know anyone who lived in the towers. The buildings are outdated and, sadly, developers don’t want to take on restoration projects there because nothing qualifies for building codes due to uniqueness in original design. Seemed somewhat untouchable. I lived in downtown Chicago for 10 years.
The album cover for Wilco's "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" features these towers!
I visited Chicago, back in 2016. Took the water taxi to Michigan Ave and passed by Marina City. The entire development definitely stands out among the crowd of high rise buildings.
Years ago, 1981 (i was 17) I worked for a Marina/boat sales company in McHenry Il. I delivered new boats and on one occasion I delivered a 45 foot motor cruser to Marina Tower. That was the challenge of my life at the time. Backing a boat in and down to the river level and getting the boat into the water. I loved the Towers though. My mother worked up the river in the Merchandise Mart for Quaker Oats corporation.
Why wasn’t the boat delivered via the river?
@@genxx2724 I lived in Crystal Lake and the Marina I worked at was in McHenry. It probably would have been easier to take the boat to Waukegan and drop it in then head to the Chicago but the person who bought the boat wanted it delivered to the tower.
@@greatmartini1 I meant deliver it to their slip at the tower via river.
@@genxx2724 the marina under the towers has a ceiling crane that we used to lift the boat off the trailer and it moved it into the water. Then I started it up and took it to its slip. I guess the owner didn't want someone else putting 4 or 5 hours on the engines before he got in it. I think he missed out. He could have sailed it from Waukegan to his slip. That would have been a fun day.
I have never heard of this place! Thank you.
I just moved to Chicago and I love architecture. I’m loving these videos
I hadn't really thought about the A-Bomb having influence on urban flight
I lived on a Top Floor Apartment for 2 months about 10 years ago...
It was Winter and the crappy windows made the AC run 24/7 which was weird as a European and therefore it was pretty noisy.
What also always is underrated is that the higher you are, the less obstacles block noise which resulted in emergency's at gold cost been able to be heard up there.
Parking was expensive for my feelings but I think still reasonable considering that you are not allowed to park yourself but having parking service included.
That been said, it was a marvelous stay. Gym with a nice view on the river, nice view on the city, everyone is drooling when you tell them where you live, direct access to the city. I JUST LOVED IT.
And using the spiral stairs for training is such a fun alternative to a cardio bike :-)
cool, thanks for sharing!
I live in downtown Chicago and see these bad boys pretty much everyday. I call them the corns, and they're honestly the main way I orient myself when I come to the river. It's fun to know more about them!
I live at River City, another Goldberg building on South Loop. I love living here and the ideas are very similar with Marina City but in a smaller scale.
I grew up in River City as a kid. I loved it
Excellent overview! I lived in the East Tower (State Street side) in 2 units over 5 years, and I absolutely loved it. When I lived in a studio, because the balcony was so large (compared to my indoor living space) I used it a lot. Even vacuumed my astroturf.
The stories I could tell…
-Yes, when on the roof the sound echoes off one building to the other - even from just the sound of your flip flops (I experienced that every time I went up to sunbathe).
-When it’s very windy the building sways and makes terrible creaking noises. Not likely uncommon for tall, slender buildings.
-The building once lost power due to an ice storm and many of us took the very unsafe, not under code (at the time) stairs in the dark - mind you, the residential floors don’t start until the 21st floor. For me, it meant trekking up 32 flights to get home.
-It was not uncommon to hear owners talk about the need to replace their car tires every few years due to uneven wear and tear with their vehicles continuously being driven up and down the spiral parking ramp by semi-pro race car drivers (aka, valets).
I know nothing about architecture but one comment, one question.
-I lived in 2 of Goldberg’s buildings in Chicago (the other at Astor & Goethe). Some similarities to both: floor to ceiling windows; ample closet space; compact GE 60s kitchens. Both outstanding designs.
-I hate to even think it, but is there ever the possibility the towers could falter or become structurally unsound because of the Chicago River? The marina’s obviously in the water, the buildings are directly above it…could the “construction” corrode?
Taller Chicago structures ARE to the bedrock below. Marina City yes is one.... vs Manhattan... Chicago has to go much deeper for bedrock. Many early skyscraprs were on solid clay and still stand... just tall boys yeah go to bedrock and probably most today anyway. What a link on Marina City's construction in 1961... the building has - 80 caissons (154 counting the west tower), each buried 115 feet down, past layers of fill, gravel, three levels of water, and a variety of clays, into a limestone shelf that stretches to Niagara Falls.
Drilling a shaft for each caisson was “Big Bertha,” the world’s largest drill. Owned by Case Foundation Company, it was eight stories tall and weighed 125 tons. It could drill a hole five-and-a-half feet wide and 200 feet deep. The maximum diameter of piles varied from 24 to 66 inches. Every 24 hours, four casings with reinforcing bars were drilled to bedrock, filled with concrete, and capped with a heavy steel plate.This was done around the clock until March 1961.
There are three concentric rings of piles. The central core is constructed over the inner ring but the outer rings take most of the load. The central core is 32 feet in diameter. The thickness of the core walls decreases from 30 inches at the base to 12 inches at the top, 588 feet above the base.
The link it came from- www.marinacity.org/history/story/laying_foundation.htm
@@davidw7 thank you!!
These buildings are really beautiful💜
They also remind me of the hilliard corn cobs on west Cermak, which I would almost think have a similar design.
Every time I've been to Chicago, I've stayed at the Renaissance right across the river from Marina City. It's really peaceful to sit in the window seat and watch the river traffic below and the Corn Cobs above. Chicago has loads of great architecture. One of my fave restaurants used to be in the MC complex, Smith & Walensky. I think they may have closed during/due to Covid.
Wonderful case study! One of my favorite elements of that era in architecture is the molded concrete like the old TWA airport. Thank you for doing a wonderful job covering this landmark.
Beautiful buildings. What is now missing in downtown cores is family sized units that will help supplement and/or be a substitute for those suburban homes. Thanks Stewart!
Another great choice of subject by Mr. Hicks -and while the verbal content is highly concentrated and informative, the superb visuals take these presentations to another level. Perhaps one thing lacking, however, would be how Goldberg's design arose from his apprenticeship with The Bauhaus and yet differs from much of the other Bauhaus-influenced work in Chicago. Thanks for these videos.
Wow I love the way the radial symmetry contributes to the views of the city. Great video ❤️
Great video, very interesting
I've seen these buildings for years but didn't actually know what was inside or the history behind them! Thanks for the enlightenment :)
I was invited to one of the units back in the 1980s. I was reminded of the cartoon The Jetsons. The pie shaped units took some getting used to. The balconies were very spacious. In my opinion, the building was way ahead of its time, but even today it looks futuristic. It has also survived the test of time. While condo buildings are collapsing in Miami, Florida, this one seems to be very well-built. I was surprised to hear it was developed with union money and was meant for working families.
It's really not ahead of its time, but it is unique, and interesting. It was an experiment, and maybe not a terribly successful one given its relatively negative reputation and ungodly high cost, but it was inspirational in many ways.
The context of the River North neighborhood in the late 50s and early 60s is also important to understanding the design of Marina City. Since at least the 1910s River North was a vice district, and the heart of Chicago's queer community. In 1965, two years after the towers opened, there were at least 10 gay bars in the neighborhood, including the Front Page club just 5 blocks away at Grand and Rush, and at least three "hotels" that catered to gay men. Part of appealing to suburbanites meant separating Marina City from the undesirable residents and clientele of the neighborhood. This is done through vertical separation of course, but also by the architecture limiting the connections between the street life of the city and the enclave of the self-contained Marina City. Even the ability to directly boat or drive into the complex without having to interact with the rest of the River North neighborhood is part of maintaining this separation. It's important when considering the design of this complex to think about the ways the architect inserted this bit of "safe" and sanitized suburbia into a neighborhood that historically served people excluded from that vision of the city.
That is fascinating history.
@@dennischiapello3879 Thank you! I'm actually presenting a paper on this in April in Chicago.
Gross
when i was 18 in 2002, i stupidly tried to move in with someone from online (in chicago.) finding myself stood up, naieve, totally out of my element as i am from rural SC, i remember looking up at these towers as i drove by them, and being completely in awe
I was scrolling and saw the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot buildings and thought I’d check out the story behind these structures. Very informative 👍
If I move here my answering machine message will be:
"Hi I can't get to the phone right now as I'm currently off the cob.
Please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I am on the cob."
Thank you for highlighting this incredible development, I’m surprised I hadn’t heard of it earlier! It really reminds me of my favourite space in London - the Barbican. There is something amazing about these well funded developments of the postwar era and their embrace of the idea of mixed use development of housing, commerce and arts space… always a bit heartbreaking that this idea was so demonised for so long in the UK.
This reminded me of a show i saw a long while back about a plan in Japan to build 3 of these types of towers only much bigger, they would have thousands of homes, also commercial, industrial and recreation spaces complete with outdoor parks built into the design. The whole point being that in theory a person could live cradle to grave and never leave the tower.
Title of the vid a lil off but I really enjoyed this! I was a youngster in the 60's and never really considered people living downtown. Former Chicagoan, growing up I visited the skating rink once or twice. First job out of college, (mid80's) I worked right across the river. Lunched at a restaurant in the towers. My favorite downtown residence scraper is Lake Point Towers, but soooo many have been built since. I appreciate the history of downtown, River North, and their foresight of Goldberg and his staff. Remember Chicago Daily News Bldg like a couple of buildings east? WCFL (Super) played excellent rock music back in the day. Always visit Chi !!
The apartments look so cozy and inviting!
Thank you for yet another great video =)
Very interesting! I am generally suspicious of these sorts of projects. I have seen too many "everything-in-one-place" types of developments that are completely cut off from the cities where they are located and end up damaging the quality of life for the vast majority of people living there rather than improving it. Marina City seems to have avoided that trap.
My parents lived on the south side of Chicago from 1953 until 1958. They moved into the neighborhood while the Mecca Flats apartment complex was being demolished to make way for IIT's Crown Hall. The Mecca Flats had housed a vibrant African American community, and its destruction was one of the many "urban renewal" projects that ripped the heart out of the historically Black community. This was all before I was born, but my grandparents continued to live in Chicago, and I remember getting a post card of Marina City from them when I was a kid, and I was really taken with it. I asked them about it when they visited us in NYC, and they really liked the way downtown seemed to be coming back to life, although my dad dismissed it as being "only for rich people." I'm not sure my dad's assessment of it was fair, but given his experience with "urban renewal" projects both in Chicago and in NYC, I can understand the assumptions he made. I'd be interested to learn more about why Marina City worked, while Le Corbusier's Unite d'Habitation projects, for instance, or the even more egregious Renaissance Center in Detroit didn't.
Very understandable
@@stewarthicks Sorry for the impossibly long run-on sentence in there. I didn't edit carefully.
I agree with your dad, the common perception is if it's new and a highrise then units are going to sell in the millions. Personally I would have to live in an apartment this fabulous for me to be willing to move back to Chicago's weather
@@morphergaming0531 I live outside Vancouver, Canada.
How bad could the weather possibly be in Chicago?
😂
Those buildings are really an uncommon sight and I wondered whats in there when visiting Chicago so many years ago. Now I know, thanks!
I really liked that city by the water, sitting down by the river with a cold IPA, enjoying summer...
I took the architecture boat tour. Really cool to get these insights on these cool structures in Chicago.
Been watching your videos for some time, have always wanted to visit the US and New York, but the large amount of amazing architecture you reveal in Chicago has changed my mind, will get there one day. Maybe.
Don’t waste money and time coming to the United States just to see the rat cesspool of New York. There’s so many more beautiful spots in the country the orcas for tourism people trash rats in high crime rate. It’s disgusting Boston for instance, is a much more beautiful city full of a lot more history. But further than that, you have the west coast, the true old west in Arizona. York is a big waste of time and money.
Glad you made this video! I've always been blinded by the parking garage podiums and didn't realize how much else was going on.
Such smart design. Especially a place as cold as Chicago.
I was given a tour of three apartments in the towers back in 1969 when I was in the Navy. A studio apt. rented for a staggering 125.00 a month back then. I wonder what the rent is now. Pretty cool building.
This reminds me of the Barbican in London. One of my favourite buildings in the city. Its like a modern castle.
from all the wonderful architecture this city has, these two stand out and mystify me every time I get to visit Chicago. thank you!
Gotta love Chicago!!! I don't love it enough to live downtown ( or cook county in general) but a quick 30 minutes and I'm there.
시카고 가고 싶어졌어요 ~ ^^ 멋진 영상 감사합니다!
I lived in Marina from 1996- 2005 it was great living experience I lived east and west tower, high floors , 50 th, 38
It’s always great watching your helpful videos!