CHICAGO | Marina City | 587 FT / 179 M | 61 FLOORS | 1962

America 117 · #1 Posted **Aug 11, 2008, 12:38 AM**

Marina city is a corncob-shaped building that is all Resi and was once the tallest all resi building in the world.
It has also been called the city within a city because it has a Gym,Theatre (now the house of blue's), Swimming pool, Ice rink, bowling alley, Several stores and restaurants and.... you guessed it! A marina.
Those facts are from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_City

This Pic is also from wiki.

Steely Dan · #2 Posted **Aug 11, 2008, 3:01 PM**

home sweet home.

i live on the 33rd floor of the west tower. these are truly some of the coolest, funkiest, most future-forward residential skyscrapers anywhere in the world. it is a privilege to live amongst and within such fantastic modern architecture.

X-fib2 · #3 Posted **Aug 11, 2008, 4:57 PM**

These buildings have a special significance for me, since as a kid we used to visit a friend that had moved there shortly after they were built. Quite a thrill for a 10 year old! Don't remember what floor, but her apartment face east. They were ultra modern then, and even though lost in sea of newer buildings, they still make a powerfull statement today!

America 117 · #4 Posted **Aug 11, 2008, 5:57 PM**

Thay are very nice towers.
its cool how they have there own marina.
hay steely dan since you live there if you wanted to could you buy a boat and put it in the marina? or something.

ahdude27 · #5 Posted **Aug 11, 2008, 6:03 PM**

i love these buildings... I'm pretty stoked because this weekend I'm visiting Chicago and will be staying in the Amalfi Hotel and if google maps is correct, that hotel is right across from these awesome buildings.

Steely Dan · #6 Posted **Aug 11, 2008, 7:15 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by America 117

hay steely dan since you live there if you wanted to could you buy a boat and put it in the marina?

i don't know what kind of wait list there is for slips down in the marina, there are only spaces for 2 dozen or so boats, so i'd assume that those slips are in extremely high demand and are thus very, very pricey.

and in any event, i don't have the money for a boat right now, and even if i did i sure as hell wouldn't buy a power boat, i'd only being interested in a sailboat, which, given all the of the bridges on the river, would be impossible to keep at marina city's docks.

Sandy · #7 Posted **Aug 11, 2008, 7:14 PM**

Some pics I took last October:

These are not my favorite buildings in Chicago but I understand that the concept of the "city within the city" could be innovative for the end of the 50's , I don't know many things about architecture and urbanism but this concept make me think about Le Corbusier's Unités d'habitation in Marseille or Firminy (very close to St etienne) with the on-site facilities too: school, stores, library, swimming pool, day care center... Am I wrong if I make this parallel?

America 117 · #8 Posted **Aug 11, 2008, 7:28 PM**

Oh! I thout that people who live there get free space in the marina or something.

Steely Dan · #9 Posted **Aug 11, 2008, 7:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by America 117

Oh! I thout that people who live there get free space in the marina or something.

ha, there's nowhere near enough slips in that tiny marina for that. like i said, the marina might have slips for 2 dozen or so boats, whereas there are over 950 units between the two residential towers of marina city.

America 117 · #10 Posted **Aug 12, 2008, 4:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

ha, there's nowhere near enough slips in that tiny marina for that. like i said, the marina might have slips for 2 dozen or so boats, whereas there are over 950 units between the two residential towers of marina city.

The video that adrian posted said that the marina can hold 700 boats.

Steely Dan · #11 Posted **Aug 12, 2008, 5:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by America 117

The video that adrian posted said that the marina can hold 700 boats.

well, i didn't watch the video, but if that's what the video said, then it's simply wrong. i live here, i've been down to the marina level several times, and i can tell you in no uncertain terms that the marina holds about 2 dozen boats, maybe 3 dozen if they're small.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ayreonaut

Ah....so no lazy boy?

ewwwwww....... a lazy boy? i would never desecrate the modern magnificence of marina city by bringing within its walls the crass, bloated, awfulness of a lazy boy, quite possibly the ugliest piece of furniture in the world. if i was that hell bent on raw comfort, i'd at least have the good sense to get an Eames chair knock-off

.

Quote:

Originally Posted by America 117

wow!
That balcony can support all that?

of course, my balcony is 175 sq. ft., it's gigantic by typical highrise balcony standards. i have a table out there that can seat up to 8 people comfortably, along with my lounge chair and grill.

Tom Servo · #12 Posted **Aug 12, 2008, 8:39 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

well, i didn't watch the video, but if that's what the video said, then it's simply wrong. i live here, i've been down to the marina level several times, and i can tell you in no uncertain terms that the marina holds about 2 dozen boats, maybe 3 dozen if they're small.

dan, you should watch that documentary... it's really cool.
and it does say 700 boats, which is obviously an error, because the area that 700 boats would occupy would be more than ten times the size of that tiny marina. i'd be surprised if dusable harbor held 700 boats... nonetheless... the video is a must watch.

M II A II R II K · #13 Posted **Aug 11, 2008, 7:50 PM**

Here's a couple of pix I took like half way up it.

And at the very top

America 117 · #14 Posted **Aug 11, 2008, 7:51 PM**

steely dan
wow
thats alot of people since there are about 2 or 3 people per unit. or more. or less.

Dac150 · #15 Posted **Aug 11, 2008, 7:53 PM**

I've never much cared for the designs themselves, but I do like the 'city within a city' concept that these towers have. They're very innovative for their time though. All in all a pair of good iconic buildings.

Aleks · #16 Posted **Aug 11, 2008, 7:59 PM**

I love the design. It's not really sleek or anything special but the design is great to me. The balconies make it even better.

Steely Dan · #17 Posted **Aug 11, 2008, 8:12 PM**

just in case anyone is curious what the buildings look like on the inside, here are some pics of my unit and some pics from my balcony.

jodelli · #18 Posted **Aug 12, 2008, 2:16 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

just in case anyone is curious what the buildings look like on the inside, here are some pics of my unit and some pics from my balcony.

A Noguchi Table. In Marina City. Your creds were already top of the line in this forum, IMHO. This is icing.

Steely Dan · #19 Posted **Aug 12, 2008, 4:07 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jodelli

A Noguchi Table. In Marina City. Your creds were already top of the line in this forum, IMHO. This is icing.

thanks for the props, though I wish I had enough cred to tell you that it's a real deal Noguchi from Herman Miller, but I didn't have $1600 to blow on a coffee table, so I got the $400 Modernica knock-off instead.

george · #20 Posted **Nov 24, 2008, 2:53 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

just in case anyone is curious what the buildings look like on the inside, here are some pics of my unit and some pics from my balcony.

Sweet crib, keep us posted on the party!