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Lake Point Tower

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This article is about the building in Chicago. For the building of the same name in Dubai, see Lake Point Tower (Dubai).
Lake Point Tower
Lake Point Tower
Map
General information
LocationChicago, Illinois, USA
Construction started1965
Completed1968
Height
Roof645 ft (197 m)
Technical details
Floor count70
References
[1]

Lake Point Tower is a high-rise residential building located on a promontory of the Lake Michigan lakefront in downtown Chicago, just north of the Chicago River at 505 North Lake Shore Drive. It is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area. It rises somewhat apart from the urban cluster of downtown Chicago in a composition that sets off and punctuates the skyline. The building is also the only skyscraper in downtown Chicago east of Lake Shore Drive.

Development

The architects for Lake Point Tower were John Heinrich and George Schipporeit, working under the firm name of Schipporeit and Heinrich; the two were students of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, one of the best known architects of the Bauhaus movement and International Style school, who taught at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Lake Point Tower was completed in 1968, is approximately 645 feet (197 m) tall, and was the tallest apartment building in the world at that time. The project developer was William F. Hartnett, Jr., chairman and founder of Hartnett-Shaw Development Company, which was responsible for more than 260 residential and commercial real estate developments in the United States from 1961-1983.

Architecture

Lake Point Tower was inspired by Mies van der Rohe’s 1922 design for a glass-curtained skyscraper in Berlin. Schipporeit and Heinrich took van der Rohe's unbuilt office building concept and converted it to a residential building. Lake Point Tower is much taller than van der Rohe’s original project, more regular in form, and its exterior glass curtain wall is tinted; however, the building owes much of its innovative design to the van der Rohe original - and because of the design's origins, many in Chicago still consider Lake Point Tower to be a Mies van der Rohe building, albeit executed by two of his protégés.[citation needed]

Because of its height and the fact that Lake Point Tower sits on the shore of Lake Michigan, the residential skyscraper had to be designed to withstand high winds. At the center of the building is a triangular core that is 59 feet across in length, which contains nine elevators and three stairwells. This core also holds all of the vertical weight of the building. Because of this, the perimeter pillars on the facade do not need to be large as they only have to bear the horizontal loads.

Radiating from the core are three arms, which form an asymmetrical Y-shaped floor plan. The original plan for the building was to be a four-armed design but was later changed to a three-armed design (120° apart) with the outer walls strategically curved to ensure that the various residents could not see into the other condominiums.[2] The façade of the building is a curtain of bronze-tinted glass framed by gold-anodized aluminum, which reflects the sunlight off of Lake Michigan and looks golden.[3]

Other features

Well known for its graceful curves and enviable location, Lake Point Tower is one of the most widely recognized Chicago landmarks, following the Willis Tower and the John Hancock Center, and the structure most closely associated with Lake Shore Drive. It is the only major private structure on the lakefront side of Lake Shore Drive and likely to remain that way for the foreseeable future, given the city's prohibition on building on the lakefront.

Lake Point Tower was one of the first all-electric high-rise residential buildings in the world and pioneered the concept of the "Park in the City," being the first residential complex in a major city to have its own two-and-one-half acre park - including a playground, pool, duck pond, and waterfalls - three stories above ground. The building also features an assortment of shops and restaurants on the second and ground levels of the complex, under the third-floor park. Cite, a restaurant and bar on the top floor of the 70-floor residential tower, boasts spectacular views of the city and lake and serves gourmet French/American cuisine. The restaurant and lounge are open to the public.

Lake Point Tower's position between Lake Shore Drive and Navy Pier gives it unimpeded north, east, and south views that are protected, for the foreseeable future, by the ordinances controlling use of the city's lakefront. A wedge of the cityscape view to the southwest would have been lost to architect Santiago Calatrava's Chicago Spire, which was to be built diagonally across from Lake Point Tower on the other side of Lake Shore Drive. However, the spire project was a casualty of the nation's economic recession - construction was halted in October, 2008.

Movies shot on location

Lake Point Tower has been host to many film shoots including:

Famous residents

Lake Point Tower has been home to many affluent Chicagoans past and present, including:

Position in Chicago's skyline

The skyline of a city with many large skyscrapers; in the foreground is a green park and a lake with many sailboats moored on it. Over 30 of the skyscrapers and some park features are labeled.311 South WackerWillis TowerChicago Board of Trade Building111 South WackerAT&T Corporate CenterKluczynski Federal Building333 South WabashChase TowerThree First National PlazaMid-Continental PlazaRichard J. Daley CenterChicago Title and Trust Center77 West WackerPittsfield BuildingLeo Burnett BuildingThe Heritage at Millennium ParkCrain Communications BuildingIBM PlazaOne Prudential PlazaTwo Prudential PlazaAon CenterBlue Cross and Blue Shield Tower340 on the ParkPark TowerOlympia Centre900 North Michigan875 North Michigan AvenueWater Tower PlaceHarbor PointThe ParkshoreNorth Pier ApartmentsLake Point TowerJay Pritzker PavilionBuckingham FountainLake MichiganLake MichiganLake Michigan

See also

References

  1. ^ Lake Point Tower at Emporis
  2. ^ Lepik, Andres (2005). Skyscrapers. Munich: Prestel. pp. 84–87. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ Blaser, Werner (1981). Mies van der Rohe: Continuing the Chicago School of Architecture. Basel: Birkhauser Verlag. pp. 224–27. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Schulze, Franz (2003). Chicago's Famous Buildings. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. p. 157. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Sinkevitch, Alice (1993). AIA Guide to Chicago. Orlando, FL: Hardcourt Brace & Company. pp. 117–18. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Skyscrapers, Antonino Terranova, White Star Publishers, 2003 (ISBN-8880952307)
  • In 2007, the American Institute of Architects [1] listed Lake Point Tower as one of America's 150 favorite structures.
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