Built on unused railroad property in the early 1960s at a cost of $36 million, Marina City was a Chicago icon that is now known throughout the world.

It was the first mixed-use complex in the United States to include housing. The towers were the tallest apartment buildings in the world – and for a short time, the tallest structure made of reinforced concrete. It was the fourth tallest building in Chicago and one of the city’s first all-electric buildings.

Located on a 3.1 acre site between State and Dearborn streets, 300 feet along the river by 537 feet to the north, Marina City consists of five buildings... A two-story 300,000 square foot commercial platform that covers three acres. Two 65-story residential towers, each containing 448 units and 19 floors of parking for 450 vehicles. A 16-story 280,000 square foot office block on the north edge that includes a 13-story hotel. A saddle-shaped 100,000 square foot theatre building now occupied by House of Blues Chicago.

Architect Bertrand Goldberg (1913-1997) described it as “an intriguing geometric texture of concrete twin towers against a carefully controlled quiet composition of the background commercial building.”

The cylindrical residential towers, officially known as Marina City I (west tower) and Marina City II (east tower), are 588 feet high, 105 feet in diameter, and built around a central concrete core 35 feet in diameter, from which the residential units radiate. With 896 apartments on a three-and-one-half acre site, it is still one of the most dense residential plans in the world.

Each tower contains a plaza level, 19 stories of parking, a floor with laundry and storage facilities, 32 floors of one-bedroom and efficiency apartments and eight floors of one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments, a roof deck, and a mechanical penthouse. 75 percent of the residences are efficiency apartments, 15 percent are one-bedroom apartments, and 10 percent are two-bedroom apartments.

Beneath the towers is a commercial block, and below that is a water-level marina.

The distinctive appearance of the residential towers is influenced by large semi-circular balconies, 16 on each floor, each measuring approximately 10 feet by 18 feet. Goldberg described each unit as a continuing expansion of space like a petal emanating from a flower. Half of the vertical load and 70 percent of bending due to wind and other forces are carried by the central concrete cores, which contain elevators and stairwells, mechanical and electrical risers. The buildings have only 30 percent of the wind resistance they would have if they were the same dimensions but of a more conventional rectilinear form.

The design won an award in 1965 from the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The AIA recognized the complex again in 1991, giving it their 25 Year Distinguished Building Award. Goldberg said at the time that it had taken 25 years for people to understand the building. In 1964, a steel antenna (since dismantled) was built on top of the west tower, reaching a total height from ground level of 969 feet. The theater building, with its curved concrete shell, was completed in 1967. It originally housed a television theater and later, three movie theaters.

Original plans to use steel shells proved too costly. Marina City was surpassed as the tallest reinforced concrete structure by 1000 Lake Shore Plaza, fifteen blocks to the north.

When it was completed, Marina City was the world’s largest “all electric” building. Each apartment has an electric range, hot water heater, disposal, and controls for electrical heat and ventilation.

Each tower core has a 12,000 volt electrical transmission line, with transformers located every third floor to distribute 220 volts to each apartment.

A 16-story variation of the Marina City design was used in 1966 in a Chicago public housing project. The Raymond Hilliard Center consists of two towers supported by petal-like concrete cells.

A much larger version of Marina City was planned for south of the Loop in the mid 1970s. “River City” was to be a vast complex of linked towers, with a huge marina. Half a mile long, it would house three times the number of people as Marina City, in six clusters of 72-story towers linked by connecting levels every 18 floors. Only a very small portion of the original design was actually built.

Marina City’s estimated population of 1,400 is larger than 727 municipalities (55 percent of all municipalities) in Illinois, according to 2000 census data.