WBEZ — “What’s That Building? A Towering New Addition To Chicago's Skyline”
“The 1,191 foot tall Vista Tower is expected to be completed in 2020. The 101-story skyscraper will tower over the city just south of the Chicago River in downtown Chicago, just a few blocks southwest is the world’s second tallest woman-designed building, Aqua.
Both were designed by Studio Gang, the architecture firm headed by Belvidere, Ill.,-born architect Jeanne Gang. Her accomplishments fit squarely into Chicago’s history with tall buildings, which includes the invention of the skyscraper in 1884. . . .
For Gang, the engineering of tall buildings — especially in Chicago — has always been a fascination.
She grew up in “a typical two-story wooden house on a typical street” in suburban Belvidere, and her family would often visit Chicago to go to museums. Back then, her favorite building was Marina City, the twin corncob towers on the Chicago River designed by Bertrand Goldberg.
“That building was so fascinating because you can see the geometry of it,” she said. “There are the apartment terraces, the cars below them and the boats coming in underneath.”
This influence is clear in Vista’s undulating design, which stand out among its rigidly rectilinear neighbors.”