Architect Rafael Viñoly has revealed new images for NEMA, a skyscraper set to become the tallest residential rental tower in Chicago. In Chicago’s urban plan, this residential tower’s structural system evokes that of the iconic Willis Tower to bookend the city skyline on the southwestern edge of Grant Park.
NEMA Chicago. Image Courtesy of Rafael Viñoly Architects
NEMA Chicago. Image Courtesy of Rafael Viñoly Architects
Chicago, a city with an iconic urban plan by Daniel Burnham, is bolstered by its assortment of modernist towers remarkable for their height, structural legibility, aesthetics, and public engagement. Viñoly’s NEMA Chicago will enter into the city’s enviable architectural canon.
NEMA Chicago. Image Courtesy of Rafael Viñoly Architects
Bookending NEMA Chicago with the Aon Center, the 76-story residential tower with 1,115 square meters (12,000 square feet) of retail space at its base will enhance the grandeur of the park as the heart of Chicago’s Burnham plan. The building’s massing, made up of square structural bays of varying stacked heights, evokes its city’s famous Willis Tower, once the world’s tallest.
NEMA Chicago. Image Courtesy of Rafael Viñoly Architects
NEMA Chicago rises from the corner of Indiana Avenue and Roosevelt Road and creates a tall southern edge to Grant Park, balancing the mix of heights on the downtown Chicago Loop skyline. The tower is set on a 16-story-tall base topped by a 1,360-square-meter (14,670-square-foot) landscaped pool deck for residents. The base also contains a parking garage, resident fitness amenities, and retail.
NEMA Chicago. Image Courtesy of Rafael Viñoly Architects
Viñoly worked with Chicago’s Plan Commission to amend the local master plan and respect the Lake Michigan waterfront. After the initial presentation to the Commission, Rafael Viñoly amended his original tube-like tower design to create a more seamless relationship with the existing city skyline. Rather than being defined by a visual style, Rafael Vinoly’s buildings are distinct for their logical and careful assembly of building parts that result in innovative architectural solutions. The visual result of this approach is often a direct, spare and rational appearance that resonates with the best of the Chicago school of architecture. The final step-like design for NEMA Chicago is contextually appropriate and allows for a greater diversity in condominium sizes and layouts.
NEMA Chicago. Image Courtesy of Rafael Viñoly Architects
NEMA Chicago. Image Courtesy of Rafael Viñoly Architects
“NEMA Chicago summarizes more than just a brilliant planning philosophy, it defines an attitude toward realizing the American ideal that anything is possible as long as you believe in it. This belief is embedded in every part of Grant Park and is reinforced by the architecture that frames it.”
Gallery
The 122,760-square-meter (1,321,415-square-foot) tower will create 800 rental units and is designed to LEED Silver.
Project Details
Location
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Completion
2018
Size
90,910 gross square meters
Highlights
- Tower design inspired by Daniel Burnham’s rational urban plan for Chicago
- Creates a tall bookend to the existing downtown Loop skyline along Grant Park
- Ground level retail space engages the public while a landscaped pool deck on the 16-story base creates an urban vista for tower residents
Consultants
Project description courtesy of architects