Watch Construction Of Iconic Marina City Towers In 1965 Video

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Jul 9, 2015 6:15PM

Marina City's stunning, corncob-shaped apartment towers have long served as an unofficial symbol of Chicago's Riverfront.

With a committee weighing whether to give the twin towers official landmark status as the culturally significant architectural works we know them to be, we turned to this vintage film, brought to our attention by Curbed, on the creation of the towers for insight into their history.

Designed by architect Bertrand Goldberg as a counterpoint to some of the city's modernist buildings with their clean, linear forms, Marina City become the subject of this short documentary in 1965, a year after it was completed. This is Marina City details the intense manpower and work schedule that went into the towers' design and construction as well as their architectural significance.

"By day, these towers display a constantly changing pattern of shadow and light playing over their circular forms, so refreshingly alive compared to the opaque, glassy facades of most modern buildings, boxing in the canyon streets of our major cities." former WGN Chicago radio announcer Walt Newton says in his narration of the film. "Marina City is more than a structure; it is a strong influence on the architecture of tomorrow and a realistic approach to urban planning."

Here are parts 1 and 2:



[H/T Curbed]