Chicago Structure

This past weekend was my first visit to the windy city of Chicago. To say the least, I am looking forward to going back – beautifully clean city, pleasant people, great food, and amazing architecture. No complaints from yours truly.

Clean? Yes, check out those rivets and seams on this bridge and railing over the Chicago River- no rust. With the big and beautiful fresh water Lake Michigan as the source of navigable waterways, the city’s structures are allowed to exist without the constant attack of corrosive salty sea water as in coastal cities.

Marina City

Featured in many movies such as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Blues Brothers, and Steve McQueen’s Hunter, the Marina City towers were just begging to be photographed. Luckily, we were staying just next door, so the buildings were always available for a quick snapshot.

Designed by the architect Bertrand Goldberg in 1959 and finished in 1964, the towers have become Chicago icons. The structures are twin 65-story mixed-use residential/commercial buildings sitting on the North bank of the Chicago River. In everything from the building facade to the window shapes and structural supports, it’s plain to see the architect’s dislike for right angles.

I’ll tell ya- parking your car must take a little getting-used-to when you first move in!

The unmistakable “corncob” upper structures sit on open round parking platforms.  Notice the water spiraling down through the center of each platform. It was raining very hard just prior to me taking the photos and I couldn’t help noticing how well the water management was designed. The rain water from the roof is actually funneled down through the upper structure and through the center driveways of the parking areas until reaching the Chicago River below, thus eliminating the need for any gutters and external drainpipes.

Goldberg’s sister structure River City, along a more residential section of the Chicago River.