The Rise of Marina City: A Mid-Century Marvel

Marina City, completed in 1964, was architect Bertrand Goldberg's original vision for a self-contained "city within a city," featuring everything from a bowling alley and a flower shop to spiral parking ramps and a marina—which gave the complex its name.

Construction was innovative. The towers rose at the rate of one floor per day, and tower construction cranes were used for the first time in the U.S. These cranes climbed up the cylindrical cores, which house elevators, stairs, and mechanical systems. The apartments are unique in that they contain almost no interior right angles. On each residential floor, a circular hallway surrounds the elevator core, which is 32 feet (10 m) in diameter, with 16 pie-shaped wedges arrayed around the hallway.

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All parking in Marina City's garages is strictly valet-only, meaning that members of the general public are not allowed to park their own cars on the ramps—so you won’t see a car plunging into the river like in that Steve McQueen movie. The valets have clearly found it easier to back into the spaces rather than pull in head-first, which is why the cars are always parked in reverse.

The corncob-shaped residential towers were initially a major tourist attraction. AM radio station WCFL operated from the 16th floor of the office building from 1965 to around 1985. Studio One overlooked the Chicago River. WFLD had its studio and transmitter there, and WLS also had its transmitter on-site until the Sears Tower was completed.

Marina City has been featured in numerous films and TV shows, both in close-up scenes and wide, sweeping shots of the skyline. Today, the complex is home to the House of Blues concert hall and Hotel Chicago, as well as the upscale bowling lounge 10pin, a bank, and restaurants like Bin 36, Smith & Wollensky, and Dick’s Last Resort. These are truly some of the coolest, funkiest, and most future-forward residential skyscrapers anywhere in the world.

Doesn’t George Jetson live here?