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A 1985 book contained more than two dozen early photographs of Marina City. When compared with more recent images, the evolution of Marina City and its neighborhood is dramatic.
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In 1985, Paris Art Center published a book to accompany a comprehensive retrospective of the work of Bertrand Goldberg. Dans La Ville (“On The City”) was written by Michel Ragon and included 160 pages of photographs and drawings, an essay by Ragon, and two essays by Goldberg.
Many black-and-white photos of Marina City appeared in the second chapter – “Community Projects” – of the long out-of-print book.
Credited photographers included Hedrich Blessing, Gil Amiaga, Orlando R. Cabanban, Russ Carmack, Chicago Architectural Photographing Company, Larry Gordon, J. Alex Langley, Nathaniel Lieberman, Paul Markow, McShane-Fleming Studios, Rodney McCay Morgan, Rob Savage, David Urschel, Robert Ward, and Thomas Yanul.
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(Above) Enlarged view of 1962 photo of Marina City from the southeast with the State Street Bridge at lower left. Merchandise Mart is visible in the distance at upper left. John R. Thompson Center can be seen between the towers. At lower right, stairs lead down to a parking lot that is now the location of 330 North Wabash.
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Similar angle in June 2009. Click on images to view larger versions.
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(Above) View from northwest. Broadcast towers are installed on the roof of the west tower. The Univac division of Sperry Rand (now known as Unisys), then a manufacturer of mainframe computers, occupies commercial space at lower left.
Univac and other commercial tenants, including a bowling alley, are located in the six-story base structure below a ten-story office building. A recreational terrace for office employees is located on the roof of the base structure. Columns create a load transfer system to the office building.
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By 2006, when House of Blues still owned the hotel, there was a parking lot across Dearborn Street and Marina City could be seen from the northwest. In 2009, a 44-story office tower took over the northwest view. The broadcast tower, built in 1964, was obsolete by 1974 when WLS-TV moved its transmitter to Willis Tower, then known as Sears Tower.
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(Above) This drawing by Bertrand Goldberg Associates shows how each tower rises from an elevation of two feet on the Chicago River to 588 feet at the top of the mechanical penthouse.
The “marina level” is three feet above the river. From street level at 22 feet, ramps incline from State Street and Dearborn Street to reach a “bridge level” of 33 feet.
18 levels of parking rise from the bridge level (also known as plaza level), followed by a transition (see 2009 photo below) to laundry and storage facilities 194.5 feet up on the 20th floor. Apartments fill floors 21 through 60, then there is an observation deck at 543 feet, and a 45-foot mechanical penthouse.
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(Above) Construction photo of the transition from circular parking structure to the apartment levels, both of which surround the core. (Click on images to view larger versions.)
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The theater building under construction. The steel frame will support a sprayed-concrete, lead-sheeted roof. The west tower is in the background. In the distance at right, across Dearborn Street, is E.W. Boehm Company, the Chicago distributor of A.B. Dick duplicating products.
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(Left) Each core contains five elevators, stairs, cold water, telephone and electrical service. Dearborn Street Bridge at lower left is still under construction. |
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Base of office building in 2007, which then was Hotel Sax. (Click on images to view larger versions.)
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Theater building, now House of Blues Chicago.
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(Above left) Ice skating rink that overlooked the Chicago River. The west residential tower is in the background. (Above right) This area is now occupied by a restaurant.
(Right) Every habitable room of the residential towers has a balcony, formed by cantilevered (projecting beyond its supporting wall) concrete. Here, two residents (possibly paid models) of the west tower eat breakfast on their balcony. (Click on images to view larger versions.)
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Marina City pages from Dans La Ville
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