How This Tower Barely Touches the Ground

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This building looks like it has no business staying upright. Technically its one of the skinniest skyscrapers in the world. At fifty stories tall, it only touches down on a base is 35 (11m) feet wide. This is 150 N. Riverside in Chicago and in this video we explore the engineering for why this building doesn't' fall over and why it looks this way in the first place. We talk with the building's architect and get a tour of this amazing structure.
Architect: www.gpchicago.com/
Client: riversideid.com/
Structural Engineer: www.mka.com/
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__About the Channel__
Architecture with Stewart is a KZbin journey exploring architecture’s deep and enduring stories in all their bewildering glory. Weekly videos and occasional live events breakdown a wide range of topics related to the built environment in order to increase their general understanding and advocate their importance in shaping the world we inhabit.
__About Me__
Stewart Hicks is an architectural design educator that leads studios and lecture courses as an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also serves as an Associate Dean in the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts and is the co-founder of the practice Design With Company. His work has earned awards such as the Architecture Record Design Vanguard Award or the Young Architect’s Forum Award and has been featured in exhibitions such as the Chicago Architecture Biennial and Design Miami, as well as at the V&A Museum and Tate Modern in London. His writings can be found in the co-authored book Misguided Tactics for Propriety Calibration, published with the Graham Foundation, as well as essays in MONU magazine, the AIA Journal Manifest, Log, bracket, and the guest-edited issue of MAS Context on the topic of character architecture.
__Contact__
FOLLOW me on instagram: @stewart_hicks & @designwithco
Design With Company: designwith.co
University of Illinois at Chicago School of Architecture: arch.uic.edu/
#architecture #urbandesign

[@JohnFromAccounting]

I love these kinds of projects. It's not an ego project. It's not a statement of a movement in architecture. It's the work of great engineers and architects that wanted to efficiently use unused space.

[@jacobmassey3897]

So for that reason surely it is an ego project because they've built it simply because they could?

[@rickyrunks510]

A whole lot of ego involved. Definitely a statement piece

[@kylefreitas2386]

@@rickyrunks510Chicago is know as the Y city, no ego involved, purely a memoir to the city

[@Weekndgroupie]

definitely a culmination of all those factors, including ego lmao

[@austincrittenden5363]

Who cares it’s a work of art

[@iancowan3527]

Turning 6,000 sqft into 1.2 mil sqft... Is an awesome trick. But doing so in Chicago, on the waterfront, with an almost insane level of construction restrictions - and created as such a breath take building to look at and to look out of = is a pure marvel to behold!

[@oddities-whatnot]

The word “insane” should be banished from KZbin comments. It is so over used, its like those who say plot twist or hold my beer.

[@Jordan-sy7my]

​@@oddities-whatnothold my pocket.

[@81caspen]

I work for MKA, the engineering firm on this project, and in Rainier Tower, one of the buildings you referenced (which an earlier iteration of our firm also engineered). Nice to see our stuff in the public culture ❤

[@stewarthicks]

Awesome! I’d love to do a video with y’all sometime soon.

[@jonathanm9200]

What did you guys found the building on? Is there bedrock close to the surface in that area? It's a lot of weight in a relatively small area looking at the photo of the core.

[@johndododoe1411]

Is there something below the rail yard anchoring the tower's sideways to prevent it falling over? Because dampening isn't support.

[@usmh]

Could you help explain the stabilizing water at the top? Because that part felt really counter-intuitive. If wind is moving to the right it gives the building rightward momentum, so the building starts to move but is then held back by the water, BUT that would have to give some rightward momentum to the water itself too. So wouldn't the water then hit the right wall after a bit and make it more unstable?

[@81caspen]

@@usmh Thanks for the question, but my degree and profession is in accountancy. I just happen to work in an engineering firm.

[@skyerune]

I live in Chicago. It's so mollifying to see such high quality content about our city. It doesn't get as much love as NY, and it should!

[@rosezingleman5007]

No better place than Chicago if you’re an architect in America.

[@ntdscherer]

What were you angry about?

[@Naveandlaen]

Terrible use of the word mollifying

[@kavalogue]

Im so sorry to hear that

[@squidinkRC]

I don’t think you know what mollifying is

[@usa1mac]

Last time I was in Chicago I got to see this building. I appreciated what they did to maximize the ground level space for walkers along the river. It is cool to hear the details on why this approach was needed Keep up the outstanding work!

[@peachulemon]

I couldn't tell if it was on purpose or not when I saw it

[@nannerz1994]

I used to be a tour guide on the river and this was one of my favorite buildings to talk about!

[@gamemasteranthony2756]

I actually was on one of those river tours last year when they talked about the architecture of the city. I remember this building being talked about as well.

[@gamemasteranthony2756]

@@prabhuraaj101 Doubt it. I never took a tour of the building itself.

[@Aztesticals]

Its offered. I tried to join a group of architecture students who got invited by their professor who knew someone. I wasnt allowed to go because i wasnt in the class or getting the degree. Really upset. Looked so damn cool and they got to see a whole bunch of the maintenance areas. Damn roomate got to go up into tiapei 101 and the patronas tower. I got to go whre the make eggs for vaccine. What kinda trade off is that​@gamemasteranthony2756

[@onstructures]

As a structural engineer, I enjoyed your description of the design. Buildings like these - with hard constraints - give people like me the chance to flex our muscles and show what careful design and detailing can do!

[@tomevers6670]

You said that so sensually. Ty

[@Heyu7her3]

I feel the same way about teaching K12 computer science... sometimes LOL

[@_hanz73]

I can imagine being a photographer or an artist living in Chicago must be such a blessing, every where you look you just see something interesting to capture!

[@jimyoung7926]

I was just telling my father how this is my favorite building in Chicago due to the engineering I learned about on the architecture tour. So cool to see a whole video dedicated to it!

[@wvlfboyy]

I need to say, your channel REALLY helps me in my current studies. Really opened my eyes towards possibilities in architecture.

[@joanabug4479]

I'll subscribe to that! I've actually been recommending it to my professors who otherwise don't have much power in say in our university, but who I deem to be better pedagogues than those above them. That's in hopes that myself and current/future students don't stay discouraged when they find out our school is lacking in ways... compared to universities abroad, to which not all of us have access unfortunately

[@kor2525]

Same

[@brendtoconnell6119]

I did a little stint with Goettsch Partners back in 2006 and worked on a few buildings in which we were eliminating corner columns and transferring loads back to the center core. The structural concept is nothing really new, except the construction logistics and site stockpile is unique. Good episode.

[@OlPurpleBeard]

I worked in this building from its opening up until recently. A bit of what you covered was 'tribal knowledge' you'd pick up in short conversations in the hallways, but I still learned a lot! I noticed you didn't mention the partial collapse during construction in October 2015. I imagine the other experts weren't terribly excited to bring that up, but it was something I definitely kept in the back of my mind while working there. For a fantastic river view, try lunch or dinner at the restaurant downstairs, currently called 'Porter'. Keep up the great work!

[@jmstrsn5148]

any links to the reports of the collapse ? I was there in sept. 15' and was wondering if they had gone too far with the design ? but the I beams were massive !! never saw beams that big . eventually I forgot about it in the sea of wonders that Chicago is in architectural volume.

[@jmstrsn5148]

found a tribune report where the company said it was a concrete form failure 10' x10' vertical wall .that is not an uncommon event.

[@2degucitas]

Is the site really noisy due to the trains and traffic?

[@ryanwright4686]

Downstairs? So I just keep going down? For a great view? Lol

[@aredub1847]

partial collapse? you live in the suburbs by any chance?

[@ryanbone3537]

In 20 years of watching skyscraper construction in Chicago, 150 N. Riverside was by far the most exciting to watch. The logistical mastery involved in putting a skyscraper on this site is nothing short of genius.

[@joshi897]

Took a river cruise when I was in Chicago and was very impressed with this building. Seeing these buildings in videos is nothing like seeing them in person.

[@dereklawr]

this is so fascinating to see as an engineer; instantly i thought about the lateral forces and the extreme overturning that must be created at the base. also fascinating to hear about a 1000plf beam, which certainly makes sense in that truss!

[@-Taro-]

I love seeing this kinds of situations create this kind of fluid creativity. I also think its really awesome that we got to see and hear from the actual architecture group who designed it.

[@kevinkuntz8413]

Awesome work Stewart! Really appreciate you presenting structurally engineering concepts in a digestible fashion for people without an architectural or engineering background to understand. One other interesting fact about 150 N Riverside is that while in day to day use the horizontal thrusts induced at the base of the building balance out, conditions when there is a lot more vertical load on one side of the building than the other had to be considered. Like when there are fireworks at Navy Pier with everyone looking out on the East side of the building while no one is on the West side. Just another exciting challenge that needed to be considered in this engineering and architectural marvel!

[@Ranch321]

When a building skips leg day.

[@PYGolf]

I have to say, Stewart's videos are some of the best content on KZbin. Bravo

[@devinmay3038]

I really love your videos of Chicago. Me and a friend were just there for a few days. We took an architectural boat tour down the river. We passed right by the building. It's such an incredible design and feat of engineering. Keep up the great uploads!

[@strongtowns]

Always excited to learn from your videos, but this one in particular was so engaging- it was technical yet accessible and visually engaging. From the context, to actually GOING to the Goettsch firm, to talking to the people who designed it, to seamlessly adding analysis, and having a physical model?! I learned a ton without feeling patronized OR lost the entire time... do you happen to teach or something? Cheers, -Mike

[@stewarthicks]

You’re so kind!!

[@BellaBellaElla]

Strong towns and Stewart Hicks collab video when?!? :) :)

[@zarblitz]

I always enjoyed watching the construction of this as I came into the loop on the brown line each day for work. It was pretty cool to see the progress day to day.

[@AaronRenner]

I traveled to Chicago for the first time last spring and did an architecture tour on the river. This was one of the buildings they talked about and it was really cool to hear.

[@venicebeachsportsnetwork6677]

The architecture tour is surprisingly fun

[@BellaBellaElla]

As always, I love your informative style and passion, it shows in every frame of your videos! Thank you once again for highlighting Chicago, my absolute favorite city!!!❤

[@sharedknowledge6640]

Thanks for featuring this video as it’s a great unique building. It’s my first video on your channel. I took a Chicago architecture boat tour a long time ago and now there’s something new to show off right by the river. You just earned a new subscriber.

[@tomanicodin]

I love your channel. I have no engineering nor architectural background but I love learning about all you share. And you are doing it in a very friendly user way, very understandable for the one that lacks knowledge. Thank you :)

[@BrandonJXN2]

I remember one Sunday I went wandering downtown right after this building opened and since it was Sunday, not a whole lot of people. I walked into the cool plaza at the base of the building and just kept marveling at the engineering. The building basically floats over you while the Metra is rumbling under you.

[@kevinbailey8827]

I was in Chicago last week, and I noticed this building when we went to see if the river was still green. I pointed it out to my kids, but I didn't know anything about it. We thought it looked like a pencil.

[@legokid1902]

I work on some of the boats that go up and down the river, I normally give a cut down version of what you explain but everyone from out of town always finds this building so interesting!

[@PatrickAdairDesigns]

Another amazing video! I live in Wolf Point East and have an amazing view of the “pencil” building. I’ve heard about the impressive engineering behind it, but I’ve never seen and heard such a detailed overview of it all! Thanks for the great content and keep it coming Stewart!!

[@Ariridesbikes]

There's a building in Mexico City that was originally built for chemical company Celanese that also incorporates a similar overhang. As well as the overhang it also has several interesting aspects. It was originally built from the top to the bottom, the core was built first and after that the main building areas were built from the top to the bottom, hanging on wires that still work to this day. The second funky aspect of it is how its layout is organized around the main stairs, all of the offices are open to them and there are no specific floors per se, the only full floors are the top floor and entry lobby.

[@ooooneeee]

Rad! What's the building called?

[@Ariridesbikes]

@@ooooneeee it's the Edificio Celanese (Celanese Building) by Ricardo Legorreta, it's also known as "La Paleta" (The Popsicle) by the people of Mexico City. Celanese has long since sold the building and currently it is leased by the Mexican department of education if memory serves me right.

[@juandavidgiraldo518]

Basically it's an inverted pendulum building, they are not rare at all, there are some in Spain too, in Colombia (mi country) more specifically in Bogotá there are 2 building like this, once is the UGI building and the other is the Colseguros building, they are technically very interesting to analyze more when you notice that this city has a floor jelly-like cause it's made of limes and expansive clays, a total latinoamerican engineering achievement, the 60s and 70s was the gold time of this, now my country only build bad and making a 2 years project in 10 years ¬_¬

[@maccarnold]

I have lived in Mexico city all my life (46 years) and didn’t know about it. 😮

[@_thomas1031]

That is incredible how the y shape compliment the river shape and peace sign theme in Chicago, never thought of it😄🙌

[@thewiirocks]

My understanding of the Citi Tower in NY was that there was no design flaw. The issue was during construction time when a change from welding to the cheaper riveting approach was approved without recomputing the stresses on the structure. When the flaw was detected, they quietly deployed welders to secure all the supports. Thanks for doing a video on this building in Chicago! I remember when it was under construction and it was a rather strange sight then. I remember staring at the final building thinking about skyscraper construction and figuring out how they managed to secure it against wind load. Most of it could be puzzled out, but the water dampener at the top is an amazing piece of information that’s not obvious just looking at it.

[@ch1c4g0]

The issue was quartering wind loads (wind coming from the corner pushing on two sides) hadn't been considered. It came up when a graduate student was studying the building and noticed it hadn't been accounted for.

[@thewiirocks]

@@ch1c4g0 So I looked up the details and it seems we’re both right. The original design had the forces calculated incorrectly. However, the welded-joint plan in that design would have handled the forces had been followed. The change to the bolted-joint design during construction (not rivets as I had incorrectly recalled) weakened the structure enough to make these forces a concern.

[@ILLAILLS]

Love this piece. Watched this building being built from start to finish. Definitely brings life to the branch of the river

[@thomaswalsh4552]

My uncle was the project manager while it was being built; same guy that did 120 N Wacker, 155 N Wacker, and a bunch of others.

[@johnwilliams3075]

The reflections of the water on the lower angled part is a nice feature as well.

[@SBKWaffles]

Really interesting project! It's always fascinating to see functional constraints lead to unusual forms. I often find those solutions that much more creative and engaging than form for form's sake. It also reminds me of the Vancouver House by BIG, which takes similar site constraints but extends them to the form of the whole building.

[@ajalfieri-crispin9336]

Yay! I’m glad you brought up the Rainier Building. It’s one of my favorite buildings, thoughI’d really like to know who told you that some of us Seattleites call Rainier Tower the Beaver Building. I’ve been here 9 years, and never once have I heard that moniker. Also the F5 building in Seattle actually leans out over the Rainier Club, which I think owns or owned the land that the F5 building was built on. It’s another interesting and attractive modern office tower. The chamfer taken out for the corner that leans over the Rainier Club is used as a design language for the whole building, so you get this weirdly trapezoidal rather than rectangular tower.

[@themekfrommars]

I love it! It's amazing how constraints sometime produce the most wonderful outcomes, that don't even look like the solution to a problem at all.

[@stevenschwartz-yvr]

This building is beautiful. And I had no idea it existed. It'll be on my list to see list next trip to Chicago.

[@christophercasey7388]

It was interesting that you showed the Citicorp building because it had some. serious design flaws and was one oft he first skyscrapers to use the tuned mass damper.

[@LUIS-ox1bv]

Yes. Way back during the 70s.

[@dzl999]

The production on this video is superb, professional and broadcast quality. Fascinating and entertaining content too. Great stuff.

[@greggreg2263]

Beautiful building great design I like the way the glass enclosed is the inside at the base. those are some serious, big I-beams😁

[@ntatenarin]

I love the bases of the skyscrapers in that area. One looks like the building is on stilts. Another has an oval shape taken out of the bottom and another curves with the river. This takes away from some of the monotony of just blue buildings all over the place.

[@The_Smith]

What an interesting solution to a problem. Another great video Stewart.

[@aristoth]

Love to see these interviews with these firms to really get some deep dives into the problem solving

[@Winspur1982]

River confluences have been the site of so many big cities in history (including the ancient Native metropolis of Cahokia). I like how the builders used this space, planting some trees in the garden. It's hard to imagine wolves when looking out on Wolf Point anymore ... but Chicago has so many dogs, so there is compensation. I will remember this as the "New Water Tower."

[@TheGrandGanon]

Wolf Point is actually named after a Potawatomi Indian.

[@nickmoon3196]

I used to ride the Green Line past this building often watching it being built. It was cool to see why it was being built the way it was.

[@StephenCoorlas]

Great video Stewart - Well balanced with technical and general information 🤘

[@TubeDude78]

Really enjoyed this one, Stewart! Thank you for such an interesting architectural and engineering lesson.

[@simonbowden8408]

Excellent video Stewart. I remember when you had 200 views, now it's 300,000. Well done indeed for excellent & enriching content. And hats off to the engineers for that building. Often the architect gets all the credit, but in my experience the building design is a function of a) site constraints b) engineering solutions c) architect (& client's) vision. Constraints are very important imo otherwise some pretty mad ideas can get turned into concrete.

[@TheRealLink]

Cool! Didn't know about this tower at all. Really ingenious engineering solution as well as beautiful architecturally.

[@destructionnation704]

I've always been fascinated with this building, never knew much about it!

[@Seba55555100]

It's so cool seeing the stuff I'm currently learning in my engineering class actually being utilized in real life. Thank you for this video.

[@leone4466]

Nice job on this video. Nice job on the design of the building!

[@Madmonk7]

Living in Streeterville, I tend to pass the subject of your videos on a daily basis! Love your work!!!

[@biohazardlnfS]

Awesome use of space and engineering and architecture to make it happen

[@MorningThief_]

Fantastic 99PI episode on the CitiCorp building. Perfect video for you to do, as the podcast is only on audio & the issues are fairly visual.

[@JasonT883]

This channel is making me want to visit Chicago this summer

[@CakEnterprise]

Iv been waiting for this video ever since I started following you. It was always so curious to me thanks you!

[@scotth7267]

This video is incredibly well done. Definitely earned a subscriber!

[@cuddr710]

im no architect, but ever since I was a child, I was always in aww of the buildings downtown. This channel feeds the little kid in me that wanted to see how all these places came to be. Great vid

[@markbigbadbear]

I'm not trying to dismiss all the hard work the architects, engineers and builders put into the building. But let's not forget it looks pretty darn cool, too! Thanks for taking us along behind the scenes of all these buildings and the design behind them 🙂

[@miranda1594]

I've used that amtrack station so many times and never realized where exactly it was lol - neat!!

[@timmmahhhh]

Great video as always Stewart thank you. I understand it was an engineering grad student who discovered the design flaw with the CitiCorp building and brought it to the engineer's attention.

[@DanyVilela]

Love the video! Thank you. There’s a few similar buildings with a similar base in Paris in the Beaugrenelle neighborhood.

[@jacobbaer785]

This was a great video, getting into the architecture and engineering of such a cool building! Another overhanging building in development is the South Station Tower in Boston Massachusetts. The building will sit on 8 "super columns" which will leave the entire space below the building as part of the passenger area at the station featuring massive decorative arches. Access to the building will be from a sky bridge to a neighboring building. The overhanging columns will be connected to diagonals in tension, rather than the compression members seen in 150 N Riverside. My company worked on some of the engineering for South Station Tower so it's cool that I had a small role to play in such a huge project!

[@andoniarzate02]

I really love your content! thank you for these super high quality videos!

[@michaelreich2312]

Awesome video! I walked by this site every day during construction, and, at one point during construction, a barge partially sunk in the river next to the site.

[@rsKayiira]

This is amazing, thanks for this. Liked and subscribed.

[@jcfranco231]

Can’t wait till this video hits 1mill. Bravo Stewart 👏

[@JohnVKaravitis]

6:20 THANK YOU for the explanation, especially noting the importance of the different frequencies involved. 7:08

[@Harris_Jey]

Incredible stuff, thank you. Very educational and eye-opening to watch for a Masters Student like me.

[@KyleNally]

So I'll be going to Chicago soon to see Carmen at the Lyric and I'll definitely be looking for both this building and the peace sign Y-shape. Thanks for the interesting video!

[@jamesp5343]

I went to college downtown when they were building this. We would walk by every day and admire the unique shape. My friends and I even started calling it the Pencil Building given the shape! Now I go here to eat lunch, absolutely amazing!!

[@thepoet77]

Amazing project! Chicago Architecture worthy. Even though F.Ll.W no longer lives, his design principles still inspire so many architects.

[@TESkyrimizer]

using the water weight is so brilliant! i wonder if other architects have ever used this technique? Its so brilliant and so simple at once!

[@mravocadoman2904]

I remember the first time I saw this building under construction and I was very impressed and proud of the project 😂 that is awesome. Love this city

[@j.mieses8139]

That is a very interesting approach to site constraint

[@user-ck8pd5xt6g]

this is 100% awesome . nice job architects!

[@Cheese1master]

I remember reading about the steel beams then made it a goal to find the building on my trip to Chicago. Very cool

[@tmcb_]

Excellent look one of the most fascinating buildings in Chicago...the model demonstration with water damper is very informative! Would love to see one of these covering the nearby Boeing Building which was built with similar site constraints within the existing rail lines that also required unique engineering solutions.

[@brad9529]

Beautiful and definitely deserves every award it's likely to get, great architecture.

[@Brian-os9qj]

Being the ‘windy city’ sure comes into focus, with height stationed water. Water at the bottom, water at the top. Nice coverage man, thx.

[@iiNaoki]

Just wanted to point out that at about 2:50, you stated that Amtrak tracks were to the west, but then the visual showed the CTA L train & tracks running along the North(?) of the building... I realize it was ultimately to trace out the buildable width but it can be confusing to viewers not familiar with the area. CTA L train tracks are separate from Amtrak, to any non-Chicago viewers.

[@pauld2810]

I was going to mention Rainier Tower, here in Seattle. I'm glad I waited until the end of the video to comment. As always, great video!

[@davemaglish247]

excellent video excellent building always wondered why it had the footprint that it has now I know

[@rogerbear5455]

I took a cruise when I was Chicago and they discussed the engineering behind that building . It’s amazing ….

[@SAmaryllis]

How interesting! I've been in the building a few times but never knew the story behind why it was built like that

[@intalik]

I just love your content, man. I said it before and I’ll say it again: you are a great teacher.

[@VasuNori1]

Engineering excellence! I wonder what other cool structures these architects built

[@conniebruckner8190]

Thanks once again for a very informative video. Great photograhy too. Pleased to hear your comparisons to other towers built on small "footprints" . I always wondered how the engineering accounted for all the various forces working agains such a construction. Would never have thought of using a water tank at the top of a building!

[@Winspur1982]

I'm not an engineer but I think if people are going to continue to live in highly tornado-prone areas of the Deep South (and the climate crisis doesn't seem to have scared everyone away yet), they'll need to live in smaller versions of "water tower" buildings like this. Because of the weight and fluidity of that water on top, I don't think even an F5 tornado can topple this building. The base doesn't have to be that big.

[@_koji]

Thanks for the video!

[@Hvsnkhalifa]

Thats awesome.... the use of water like that to stabilise the structure is amazing...

[@LUIS-ox1bv]

Stabilizers in skyscrapers are nothing new. Have been around for quite some time now.

[@TahoeRealm]

My brother lives right nearby on Clinton. This is a great episode. For some reason my notifications were off, I’ve got to get caught up!

[@yeowchongong5608]

Another great video. The area has changed so much, for the betterment…

[@cmorche]

I worked on the 38th floor of the Ranier Tower for 5 years, and you aren't joking about feeling the wind! You could hear the pipes croak in the stairwell!

[@tahaks]

This building always blew me away every time I saw it

[@TreiPani]

Another great video. I always liked that building.

[@CubeAtlantic]

That building is legit disticinive & high-quality because of how i guess relaxed & flowed it is.