860–880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments

Coordinates: 41°53′55″N 87°37′7″W / 41.89861°N 87.61861°W / 41.89861; -87.61861
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Buildings at 860–880 Lake Shore Drive
Chicago Landmark
Chicago, Illinois
Coordinates41°53′55″N 87°37′7″W / 41.89861°N 87.61861°W / 41.89861; -87.61861
Area1.2 acres (0.49 ha)
Built1949 (1949)
ArchitectLudwig Mies van der Rohe
Architectural styleInternational Style
NRHP reference No.80001344[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPAugust 28, 1980
Designated CLJune 10, 1996

860–880 Lake Shore Drive is a twin pair of glass-and-steel apartment towers on N.

International Style as well as essential for the development of modern high-tech architecture
.

The towers were not entirely admired at the time they were built, yet they went on to be the prototype for steel and glass skyscrapers worldwide. Initially, it was difficult to acquire

less is more" as it is demonstrated in his self-proclaimed "skin and bones" architecture.[6]

The structural engineer for the project was Georgia Louise Harris Brown, who was the first African American to receive an architecture degree from the University of Kansas, and the second African American woman to receive an architecture license in the United States.

Controversy

860–880 Lake Shore Drive (left) has windows attached to structure, not to mullions; Esplanade Apartments at 900–910 Lake Shore Drive (right) were first true curtain-wall high-rises.

This building, like many of his Chicago high-rise structures, caused controversy in the pure minimalist community due to its

international style as taught at the Bauhaus
.

Although the 860–880 buildings were the first high-rises to look like they were sheathed with a curtain wall, they in fact were not, because the windows were attached to the structure, not to the decorative-only mullions. It was van der Rohe's 900-910 North Lake Shore (aka Esplanade Apartments) just to the north that were the first high-rises to actually have an uninterrupted glass/aluminum curtain wall, although not the first with a curtain wall.

Renovations

plaza, which connects the two towers, and exchange for stones with more historical precision.[8]

Recognition

The apartments as seen from Lake Shore Drive
860–880 Lake Shore Drive
880 Lake Shore Drive
880 Lake Shore Drive taken from 860 Lake Shore Drive

Figures and statistics

  • The twin towers are 26 stories high.
  • The buildings are 46 feet apart.
  • The steel skeletal frames rest on a 21-foot grid and are uniform in their design.
  • The building was originally designed for 860 to contain 90 three bedroom apartments and 880 to hold 158 one bedroom apartments. Many of the units have been combined to enlarge living spaces.[13]

Zoned schools

Residents are zoned to Chicago Public Schools.[14] Residents are zoned to Ogden School and Wells Community Academy High School.[15][16]

References

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ "860–880 Lake Shore Drive". City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Landmarks Division. 2003. Archived from the original on May 3, 2007. Retrieved May 14, 2007.
  3. ^ GmbH, Emporis. "860 Lake Shore Drive, Chicago – 116852 – EMPORIS". www.emporis.com.[dead link]
  4. ^ Handley, John. "Looking Forward-Is Chicago shifting into a modern mode?" Chicago Tribune June 2, 2002: Real Estate 1.
  5. ^ ALDEN WHITMAN (August 19, 1969). "Mies van der Rohe Dies at 83; Leader of Modern Architecture". The New York Times. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  6. ^ "Mies and the Mastodon." New Republic August 6, 2001: 25–30.
  7. ^ Puente, Moises. "Conversations With Mies" p31. New York, Princeton Architectural Press, 2008.
  8. ^ "Moderisms's siren song, restored". AIArchitect. 2008. Retrieved March 27, 2008.
  9. ^ "Emergence of a Master Architect". LIFE Magazine. 1957. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  10. ^ "Chicago Architecture Center". www.architecture.org. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  11. ^ "The 2008 Commemorative Stamp Program". USPS. 2004. Archived from the original on March 25, 2008. Retrieved March 27, 2008.
  12. ^ Waldinger, Mike (January 30, 2018). "The proud history of architecture in Illinois". Springfield Business Journal. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  13. ^ "Mies on Lake Shore Drive". ArchitectureWeekdate. 2004. Archived from the original on March 4, 2008. Retrieved March 27, 2008.
  14. ^ "Geographic Information Systems Archived 2008-11-06 at the Wayback Machine." Chicago Public Schools. Retrieved on September 17, 2009.
  15. ^ "Near North/West/Central Elementary Schools Archived 2009-06-12 at the Wayback Machine." Chicago Public Schools. Retrieved on September 17, 2009.
  16. ^ "West/Central/South High Schools Archived 2013-05-17 at the Wayback Machine." Chicago Public Schools. Retrieved on September 17, 2009.

External links

Media related to 860–880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments at Wikimedia Commons