Lake Point Tower
Schipporeit-Heinrich Associates
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Date
1968Description
Close view, showing the curve of the curtain wall; "The designers were John Heinrich and George Schipporeit, designing under the firm name of Schipporeit and Heinrich, who were students of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. It was completed in 1968, is over 600 feet tall [645 feet], and was the highest apartment building in the world at that time. The body of the building encompasses 900 apartments (now privately owned condominiums). It has a reinforced concrete structure and a triangular core of elevators and a stairwell which can absorb horizontal forces. Because of this, the perimeter pillars on the facade do not need to be large as they only have to bear the vertical loads. The building's plan is composed of three equal prongs extending from a central core, and alights atop a masonry podium. The exteriors of the prongs are gently curved, giving the exterior of the building a rich, gleaming form. It is often described as having been inspired by a study model of a curvilinear high-rise building made by van der Rohe during the early phase of his career, but is much taller than that proposed building, more regular in form, and its exterior glass curtain wall is tinted. The reputations of the architects of the building are associated very much with this structure." Source: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page (accessed 7/17/2008)
Type of Work
apartment house; skyscraperSubject
architectural exteriors, contemporary (1960 to present), Housing, Twentieth century, Modernist
Rights
Rights Statement
Licensed for educational and research use by the MIT community only