[ethereal_reality]

It looks like Chicago almost had it's very own Rockefeller Center. :)

This 1929 proposal is pretty obscure considering the overall design
was by Raymond Hood. It was planned for the area
that is now Lakeshore East, Illinois Center, the Prudential Building,
the Aon Center....etc.

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/451/11achgoterminalcityrhoojo9.jpg
This view is looking towards the west....north/west.
Randolph St. is on the left and the Chicago River is on the right.
In the distance, in the upper right hand corner, you can see the
Wrigley Building....Tribune Tower... and the Medinah Athletic Club
(today's InterContinental Hotel)

Can anyone estimate how tall the four central towers would have been??
To me...they look in the 1,200 foot range.




http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/8108/11achgoterminalcitylq4.jpg
Michigan Avenue is at the bottom of this illustration.
The Chicago River is on the left, and Lake Michigan is at the top.





http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/9803/11achgoterminalcity2ox3.jpg
I believe the people in this illustration would be standing on the Chicago Spire site.



http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/244/11achgoterminalcitytextqj9.jpg
Cosmopolis : Howard Mansfield

[ethereal_reality]

To see an equally amazing plan for this same site
go to the Chicago Apparel Mart thread under 'Never Built".

[cbotnyse]

looks like the area of Aon and Lakeshore East. great find. :tup:

[RLS_rls]

Wow that is...incredible! I have never even heard of this proposal before. It's massive! That looks like it would have been larger than the current Rockefeller complex.

Edit: You know...I looked at those drawings for a few minutes and I decided they don't really look authentic. Something about the overall layout and the design of the individual towers. I know those are just massing models. But for example, look at the design of those four towers close to Lake Michigan. Those seem kinda 1980s-ish to me. They make me think of the Scotiabank tower in Toronto.

[ethereal_reality]

^^^Evilon Doomm
The illustrations were published by Rutgers University,
through their Center for Urban Policy Research.

The book is Cosmopolis : Yesterday's Cities of the Future (published in 1990) by Howard Mansfield.

As for using Scotiabank tower in Toronto
as inspiration for anything..... seems a bit far fetched. ;)