Vista Tower
Location
Chicago, IL
Status
Under construction
Client
Wanda Group and Magellan Development Group
Type
Residential, Hotel
Size
1,900,000 sf / 1,196 ft / 101 stories
Sustainability
Targeting LEED Silver
Tags
Defining a new edge of the city, Vista Tower will be the third tallest building in the Chicago skyline when complete. Lifted at the center, it knits the downtown Lakeshore East community to its surroundings with unprecedented urban connections and enhanced public access to the Chicago River.
Residential and hotel amenities combine at the upper levels, creating a vibrant social center. At ground level, the building creates an essential pedestrian connection between the Chicago Riverwalk and the nearby community park’s outdoor recreational facilities.
Looking up from the river and park, the tower presents itself as three interconnected volumes of differing heights. Moving rhythmically in and out of plane, the overall flowing appearance of the building is the result of an alternating geometry between these three volumes. The building’s dimensions have the added benefit of accentuating corner views and allocating green space at various heights.
Upper-level condominiums offer panoramic views of downtown Chicago. Rendering courtesy Magellan Development.
A gradient of colored glass allows for unique responses to the various conditions of the frustum volumes, improving the building’s overall environmental performance.
In order to create the building's stepped edges, "walking columns" align to the outer corners of the floor plates as they step in and out.
Rendering courtesy Magellan Development
Consultant Team
bKL Architecture, architect of record
Gensler, hotel architect
HBA, interior architect
Magnusson Klemencic Associates, structural engineer
dbHMS, MEP design assist
Mackie Consultants, civil engineer
OLIN, landscape architect
CDC, facade consultant
Related
Chicago Tribune — "Jeanne Gang-designed, Soon to Open Vista Tower Adds to Chicago’s Impressive Gallery of ‘Down-the-Alley’ Views"
"Not only do Vista’s interconnected high-rises . . . step exultantly up to the tallest, ultrathin member of the trio. The three stems appear to curve inward and outward as they rise, evoking the infinite verticality of sculptor Constantin Brancusi’s Endless Column."
WIRED — “The City-Sculpting Buildings of Chicago’s Biggest Architect”
“Gang is one of those unicorns of architecture: a designer who is not only widely respected for her research, but has, through strategic practicality and an uncanny ability to convince clients to go further than they think they can, crossed the line into building on a large scale.”
Le Moniteur — "Avec la tour Vista, l’architecte Jeanne Gang chahute l’horizon de Chicago"
"Sur les bords du lac Michigan, aux Etats-Unis, l’édifice qui culmine à 363 m sera livré l’année prochaine. La tour, qui sera la troisième plus haute de Chicago, soigne aussi son rapport au sol. L’édifice se soulève en son centre pour libérer un passage pour les promeneurs."
