Rising on the Riverside: Overcoming Site Challenges, Improving the Public Realm Chicago Off-Site Program

150 North Riverside and 110 North Wacker

Venue: Grand Century Room, 150 North Riverside Plaza, Lower Level 1

The Chicago River is a symphony of steel and water, one of the strongest emblems of the city, lined on either side by skyscrapers and crossed by dozens of unique bascule drawbridges. But by the 21st century, most of the practical building sites had been occupied; those that remain have major constraints, from public right-of-way requirements to subterranean railroad tracks. Two projects on opposite banks of the river—the recently-completed 150 North Riverside and the under-construction 110 North Wacker—have risen to this challenge. These graceful office buildings use extraordinary engineering techniques to create a public right-of-way for the city’s Riverwalk system, new park space, and majestic building forms that provide generous floor plates for tenants, all while touching the ground as lightly as possible. Delegates joined the team of professionals that made these towers possible, opening up new dimensions of possibility for the coexistence of commercial and recreational space in the heart of Chicago.

Thursday, 31 October Schedule: