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.
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!
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!
I agree! If I could afford to I would live here! Instead, a well-off retired couple (cousins of my wife) let us stay in their condo that looks straight at the Wedgie Building as I think of it. We took an architectural tour on the river yesterday that was a must-see experience. (I lived in Chicago, twice, but I had not yet done the Architectural Tour. Wow. Our guide spoke of this building, 150 N. Riverside, and that’s what brought me here to watch it on RUclips. We also walked over to Small Cheval after dark for French fries just to take in the view and people watch. What a wonderful place on a 70° October day. Maybe I’ll have the chance to see it on a day in January next time, see the building in a more arctic-like setting. Peace to you all! #VoteElection2024 #NoMoreCoups in America
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!
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.
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
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 ❤
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.
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?
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!
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
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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 :)
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!!!❤
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.
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.
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.
I love all the details that were pointed out. There was so much allowance for thought and care and beauty put into the already-innovative project. That’s got to be an architect’s dream job.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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!!
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 🙂
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.
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.
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.
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.
@@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.
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."
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
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
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!!
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.
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.
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.
i was using googles street view and that particular spot is mixed between 2011 and 2022 so if you move here and about you can see the existence of the rail yard and the building it is today
It’s wild how this skyscraper uses a special concrete dampener at the top that acts like a reverse pendulum, reducing sway during strong winds to stabilize itself. On the flip side, certain solid materials can turn into liquid when exposed to moisture in ships, causing dangerous sloshing that will capsize them. Liquids really do have a powerful impact both ways
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 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.
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 ¬_¬
As an engineer myself I would like to know what would happend if that structure got hit by winds close to its resonance point. Thank god it has skyscrapers around that can deflect the wind a bit, but IMO i wouldnt put this building in a wide space. 40 years ago, my company had to take down a boat unloading structure because of wind resonance in the north of spain.
Thanks Stewart. This is a very clever building. I love seeing this type of solution in an urban environment. It creates interesting spaces just through its fundamental design requirements. Me being a non architect, married to an architect... I like using blunt phrases to describe stuff like this. It offends and amuses my wife's archi-inner being. I would describe this as not a design wank. LOL.
It's both a quite beautiful and very interesting building. it's so true that some of the best design emerges from Constraints. Constraints in a program are a great help to a design rather than a hindrance. Chicago is still my favorite American city. Just the culture of the people, and also the approach that urban design takes there. Even though this is a case of increasing density in an already dense urban fabric, it doesn't feel too confined. I live near Seattle in Washington state and visit there often. The Development of tall buildings in Seattle has felt like a cancer , a malignancy consuming the city (every time I go there more of the space needle is "Consumed" by the building scape) - whereas in Chicago it feels like a good use of space. More buildings can compound urban problems, in the case of Seattle - Homelessness, crime, anxiety, etc etc. Regardless of the cultural situation I do like this building. :)
It reminds me of the Qube tower in Vancouver, B.C., formerly the Westcoast Transmission Building, although it is hung from the top of the core rather than supported from the bottom, but it's still really cool, and from 1969 to boot.
What I find fascinating is that in university (civil engineering) I always thought the real world was way more complex than what I studied. But then you have buildings like this, which (although incredible) are literally just a big truss.
Yes and no, at the wide angle it's rather simple, but there are probably hundreds of thousands of members that had to be modeled to ensure that the stresses would flow the way that the engineers intended to and that there was enough margin for safety, particularly in the direction where it's so narrow at the bottom. It's one of the fascinating things about projects like this. The basic idea is rather simple, but proving that you've got the materials to actually do it with sufficient safety is another matter. After all, people would get cranky if you built the building as a test and it just fell over like those ones in Kobe did.
A building that is a bit like that also is the Place Ville Marie in Montreal. The base is in concrete and larger than the building and the building above it seems to be hovering over the base because it is like seated on a lighter structure. ( Sorry for my English I don't know how to explain it properly but go look at pictures it's amazing I find) Anyway, you should go in Montreal I find, that there is a lot of architectural value in this city and it's interestingly similar as Chicago. Love your videos
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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.
So for that reason surely it is an ego project because they've built it simply because they could?
A whole lot of ego involved. Definitely a statement piece
@@rickyrunks510Chicago is know as the Y city, no ego involved, purely a memoir to the city
definitely a culmination of all those factors, including ego lmao
Who cares it’s a work of art
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!
You said that so sensually. Ty
I feel the same way about teaching K12 computer science... sometimes LOL
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!
The word “insane” should be banished from RUclips comments. It is so over used, its like those who say plot twist or hold my beer.
@@oddities-whatnothold my pocket.
@@oddities-whatnot plot twist, it's insane to hold my beer
@@oddities-whatnotyou're insane
I agree! If I could afford to I would live here! Instead, a well-off retired couple (cousins of my wife) let us stay in their condo that looks straight at the Wedgie Building as I think of it. We took an architectural tour on the river yesterday that was a must-see experience. (I lived in Chicago, twice, but I had not yet done the Architectural Tour. Wow. Our guide spoke of this building, 150 N. Riverside, and that’s what brought me here to watch it on RUclips. We also walked over to Small Cheval after dark for French fries just to take in the view and people watch. What a wonderful place on a 70° October day. Maybe I’ll have the chance to see it on a day in January next time, see the building in a more arctic-like setting. Peace to you all! #VoteElection2024
#NoMoreCoups in America
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!
I couldn't tell if it was on purpose or not when I saw it
I used to be a tour guide on the river and this was one of my favorite buildings to talk about!
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.
@@prabhuraaj101 Doubt it. I never took a tour of the building itself.
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
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 ❤
Awesome! I’d love to do a video with y’all sometime soon.
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.
Is there something below the rail yard anchoring the tower's sideways to prevent it falling over? Because dampening isn't support.
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?
@@usmh Thanks for the question, but my degree and profession is in accountancy. I just happen to work in an engineering firm.
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!
No better place than Chicago if you’re an architect in America.
What were you angry about?
Terrible use of the word mollifying
Im so sorry to hear that
I don’t think you know what mollifying is
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!
I need to say, your channel REALLY helps me in my current studies. Really opened my eyes towards possibilities in architecture.
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
Same
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!
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.
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.
The architecture tour is surprisingly fun
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.
I have to say, Stewart's videos are some of the best content on RUclips. Bravo
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!
The reflections of the water on the lower angled part is a nice feature as well.
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!
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.
found a tribune report where the company said it was a concrete form failure 10' x10' vertical wall .that is not an uncommon event.
Is the site really noisy due to the trains and traffic?
Downstairs? So I just keep going down? For a great view? Lol
partial collapse? you live in the suburbs by any chance?
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.
That is incredible how the y shape compliment the river shape and peace sign theme in Chicago, never thought of it😄🙌
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!
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!
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.
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.
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 :)
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!!!❤
When a building skips leg day.
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.
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.
your channel makes me want to visit chicago
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.
A project manager or THEE project Manger? There's a big difference
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.
I love all the details that were pointed out. There was so much allowance for thought and care and beauty put into the already-innovative project. That’s got to be an architect’s dream job.
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.
My son attended DePaul University, and we admired this building when I went to visit him there.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
Yes. Way back during the 70s.
I visited Chicago last year and one of the best things I did was take the architecture tour. Chicago has some of the best buildings I ever saw.
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!!
What an interesting solution to a problem. Another great video Stewart.
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.
Beautiful building great design I like the way the glass enclosed is the inside at the base. those are some serious, big I-beams😁
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 🙂
This building is beautiful. And I had no idea it existed. It'll be on my list to see list next trip to Chicago.
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.
Great video Stewart - Well balanced with technical and general information 🤘
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.
marimba at 3:49 goes hard
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.
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.
@@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.
That building is legit disticinive & high-quality because of how i guess relaxed & flowed it is.
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."
Wolf Point is actually named after a Potawatomi Indian.
As a complete lay person, I found the engineering explanations in this video utterly fascinating. So ingeniously designed. Thanks!
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
You’re so kind!!
Strong towns and Stewart Hicks collab video when?!? :) :)
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
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!!
6:20 THANK YOU for the explanation, especially noting the importance of the different frequencies involved. 7:08
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.
Love to see these interviews with these firms to really get some deep dives into the problem solving
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.
Being the ‘windy city’ sure comes into focus, with height stationed water. Water at the bottom, water at the top. Nice coverage man, thx.
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.
The production on this video is superb, professional and broadcast quality. Fascinating and entertaining content too. Great stuff.
i was using googles street view and that particular spot is mixed between 2011 and 2022 so if you move here and about you can see the existence of the rail yard and the building it is today
It’s wild how this skyscraper uses a special concrete dampener at the top that acts like a reverse pendulum, reducing sway during strong winds to stabilize itself. On the flip side, certain solid materials can turn into liquid when exposed to moisture in ships, causing dangerous sloshing that will capsize them. Liquids really do have a powerful impact both ways
You could rename this video.. "The largest I-beams ever made!"
Fantastic presentation
Amazing project! Chicago Architecture worthy. Even though F.Ll.W no longer lives, his design principles still inspire so many architects.
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.
Rad! What's the building called?
@@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.
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 ¬_¬
I have lived in Mexico city all my life (46 years) and didn’t know about it. 😮
The river architecture boat tour guys here always go bananas when mentioning this building.
As an engineer myself I would like to know what would happend if that structure got hit by winds close to its resonance point. Thank god it has skyscrapers around that can deflect the wind a bit, but IMO i wouldnt put this building in a wide space.
40 years ago, my company had to take down a boat unloading structure because of wind resonance in the north of spain.
dampers are involved to avoid that
(Having a doctorate in physics myself,) I wonder if you watched the full movie.
I was on the GC team (Clark) that did the core and shell for this project, very proud to have worked on this one.
The part where they explain the water weight is actually genius 😮
Oh interesting! I thought it would be to increase walking space, but i guess that is just an added benefit
Thanks Stewart. This is a very clever building. I love seeing this type of solution in an urban environment. It creates interesting spaces just through its fundamental design requirements. Me being a non architect, married to an architect... I like using blunt phrases to describe stuff like this. It offends and amuses my wife's archi-inner being. I would describe this as not a design wank. LOL.
Living in Streeterville, I tend to pass the subject of your videos on a daily basis! Love your work!!!
It's both a quite beautiful and very interesting building. it's so true that some of the best design emerges from Constraints. Constraints in a program are a great help to a design rather than a hindrance. Chicago is still my favorite American city. Just the culture of the people, and also the approach that urban design takes there. Even though this is a case of increasing density in an already dense urban fabric, it doesn't feel too confined. I live near Seattle in Washington state and visit there often. The Development of tall buildings in Seattle has felt like a cancer , a malignancy consuming the city (every time I go there more of the space needle is "Consumed" by the building scape) - whereas in Chicago it feels like a good use of space. More buildings can compound urban problems, in the case of Seattle - Homelessness, crime, anxiety, etc etc. Regardless of the cultural situation I do like this building. :)
I took a cruise when I was Chicago and they discussed the engineering behind that building . It’s amazing ….
It reminds me of the Qube tower in Vancouver, B.C., formerly the Westcoast Transmission Building, although it is hung from the top of the core rather than supported from the bottom, but it's still really cool, and from 1969 to boot.
I love the Qube (Westcoast Transmission Building). The crazy thing was they built the floors from the top down. It's just so unique.
Love this piece. Watched this building being built from start to finish. Definitely brings life to the branch of the river
What I find fascinating is that in university (civil engineering) I always thought the real world was way more complex than what I studied. But then you have buildings like this, which (although incredible) are literally just a big truss.
always comes back to triangles.
Yes and no, at the wide angle it's rather simple, but there are probably hundreds of thousands of members that had to be modeled to ensure that the stresses would flow the way that the engineers intended to and that there was enough margin for safety, particularly in the direction where it's so narrow at the bottom.
It's one of the fascinating things about projects like this. The basic idea is rather simple, but proving that you've got the materials to actually do it with sufficient safety is another matter. After all, people would get cranky if you built the building as a test and it just fell over like those ones in Kobe did.
I live next door. 150 is a fine neighbor. I took hundreds of photos of its construction. Great video, thanks!
Actually, this building's entire weight is touching the ground. That is not "barely touching".
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!
A building that is a bit like that also is the Place Ville Marie in Montreal. The base is in concrete and larger than the building and the building above it seems to be hovering over the base because it is like seated on a lighter structure. ( Sorry for my English I don't know how to explain it properly but go look at pictures it's amazing I find)
Anyway, you should go in Montreal I find, that there is a lot of architectural value in this city and it's interestingly similar as Chicago.
Love your videos
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.
This tower barely touched the ground, incredible!
Truly an engineering marvel. I'd love to see more of it's style, it appears so open!
its expensive to do@@stevecooper7883
Erik Harris is a real one. Clearly is very knowledgeable and passionate about his work.
Give it 10 more years and we’ll learn of cracking
I love how you went the full mile and interviewed the firm which designed it! Woo!
We skip leg day, every day.
restrained and classy, a building well at home in a sophisticated city such as chicago
This cant be a good idea
It reminds me of Rainier Tower in Seattle.
An architects dream is an engineers nightmare
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.
When construction started. The barge on the river cracked, sending a huge bang through the city. I remember hearing it
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!
Tuned mass dampers are quite common in skyscrapers.
This video is incredibly well done. Definitely earned a subscriber!
I love the fact that you see the merchandise mart in the background... one of the largest building footprints in the world.