Lake Point Tower
Encyclopedia
Lake Point Tower is a high-rise residential building located on a promontory of the Lake Michigan
lakefront in downtown Chicago
, just north of the Chicago River
at 505 North Lake Shore Drive. It is located in the Streeterville
neighborhood of the Near North Side
community area
. It rises somewhat apart from the urban cluster of downtown Chicago in a composition that sets off and punctuates the skyline. The building is also the only skyscraper
in downtown Chicago east of Lake Shore Drive
.
, one of the best known architects of the Bauhaus
movement and International Style
school, who taught at the Illinois Institute of Technology
in Chicago. Lake Point Tower was completed in 1968, is approximately 645 feet (196.6 m) tall, and was the tallest apartment building in the world at that time. The project developer was William F. Hartnett, Jr., chairman and founder of Hartnett-Shaw Development Company, which was responsible for more than 260 residential and commercial real estate developments in the United States from 1961-1983.
Because of its height and the fact that Lake Point Tower sits on the shore of Lake Michigan, the residential skyscraper had to be designed to withstand high winds. At the center of the building is a triangular core that is 59 feet across in length, which contains nine elevators and three stairwells. This core also holds all of the vertical weight of the building. Because of this, the perimeter pillars on the facade do not need to be large as they only have to bear the vertical loads.
Radiating from the core are three arms, which form an asymmetrical Y-shaped floor plan. The original plan for the building was to be a four-armed design but was later changed to a three-armed design (120° apart) with the outer walls strategically curved to ensure that the various residents could not see into the other condominiums. The façade of the building is a curtain of bronze-tinted glass framed by gold-anodized aluminum, which reflects the sunlight off of Lake Michigan and looks golden.
, and the structure most closely associated with Lake Shore Drive
. It is the only major private structure on the lakefront side of Lake Shore Drive and likely to remain that way for the foreseeable future, given the city's prohibition on building on the lakefront.
Lake Point Tower was one of the first all-electric high-rise residential buildings in the world and pioneered the concept of the "Park in the City," being the first residential complex in a major city to have its own two-and-one-half acre park - including a playground, pool, duck pond, and waterfalls - three stories above ground. The building also features an assortment of shops and restaurants on the second and ground levels of the complex, under the third-floor park. Cite, a restaurant and bar on the top floor of the 70-floor residential tower, boasts spectacular views of the city and lake and serves gourmet French/American cuisine. The restaurant and lounge are open to the public.
Lake Point Tower's position between Lake Shore Drive and Navy Pier
gives it unimpeded north, east, and south views that are protected, for the foreseeable future, by the ordinances controlling use of the city's lakefront. A wedge of the cityscape view to the southwest would have been lost to architect Santiago Calatrava
's Chicago Spire, which was to be built diagonally across from Lake Point Tower on the other side of Lake Shore Drive. However, the spire project was a casualty of the nation's economic recession - construction was halted in October, 2008.
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
lakefront in downtown Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, just north of the Chicago River
Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of the same name, including its center . Though not especially long, the river is notable for being the reason why Chicago became an important location, as the link between the Great Lakes and...
at 505 North Lake Shore Drive. It is located in the Streeterville
Streeterville
Streeterville is a neighborhood in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States, north of the Chicago River in Cook County...
neighborhood of the Near North Side
Near North Side, Chicago
The Near North Side is one of 77 well-defined community areas of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is located north and east of the Chicago River, just north of the central business district . To its east is Lake Michigan and its northern boundary is the 19th-century city limit of Chicago,...
community area
Community areas of Chicago
Community areas in Chicago refers to the work of the Social Science Research Committee at University of Chicago which has unofficially divided the City of Chicago into 77 community areas. These areas are well-defined and static...
. It rises somewhat apart from the urban cluster of downtown Chicago in a composition that sets off and punctuates the skyline. The building is also the only skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
in downtown Chicago east of Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive is a mostly freeway-standard expressway running parallel with and alongside the shoreline of Lake Michigan through Chicago, Illinois, USA. Except for the portion north of Foster Avenue , Lake Shore Drive is designated as part of U.S...
.
Development
The architects for Lake Point Tower were John Heinrich and George Schipporeit, working under the firm name of Schipporeit and Heinrich; the two were students of Ludwig Mies van der RoheLudwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect. He is commonly referred to and addressed as Mies, his surname....
, one of the best known architects of the Bauhaus
Bauhaus
', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
movement and International Style
International style (architecture)
The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...
school, who taught at the Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly called Illinois Tech or IIT, is a private Ph.D.-granting university located in Chicago, Illinois, with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, communications, industrial technology, information technology, design, and law...
in Chicago. Lake Point Tower was completed in 1968, is approximately 645 feet (196.6 m) tall, and was the tallest apartment building in the world at that time. The project developer was William F. Hartnett, Jr., chairman and founder of Hartnett-Shaw Development Company, which was responsible for more than 260 residential and commercial real estate developments in the United States from 1961-1983.
Architecture
Lake Point Tower was inspired by Mies van der Rohe’s 1922 design for a glass-curtained skyscraper in Berlin. Schipporeit and Heinrich took van der Rohe's unbuilt office building concept and converted it to a residential building. Lake Point Tower is much taller than van der Rohe’s original project, more regular in form, and its exterior glass curtain wall is tinted; however, the building owes much of its innovative design to the van der Rohe original - and because of the design's origins, many in Chicago still consider Lake Point Tower to be a Mies van der Rohe building, albeit executed by two of his proteges.Because of its height and the fact that Lake Point Tower sits on the shore of Lake Michigan, the residential skyscraper had to be designed to withstand high winds. At the center of the building is a triangular core that is 59 feet across in length, which contains nine elevators and three stairwells. This core also holds all of the vertical weight of the building. Because of this, the perimeter pillars on the facade do not need to be large as they only have to bear the vertical loads.
Radiating from the core are three arms, which form an asymmetrical Y-shaped floor plan. The original plan for the building was to be a four-armed design but was later changed to a three-armed design (120° apart) with the outer walls strategically curved to ensure that the various residents could not see into the other condominiums. The façade of the building is a curtain of bronze-tinted glass framed by gold-anodized aluminum, which reflects the sunlight off of Lake Michigan and looks golden.
Other features
Well known for its graceful curves and enviable location, Lake Point Tower is one of the most widely recognized Chicago landmarks, following the Willis Tower and the John Hancock CenterJohn Hancock Center
John Hancock Center at 875 North Michigan Avenue in the Streeterville area of Chicago, Illinois, is a 100-story, 1,127-foot tall skyscraper, constructed under the supervision of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, with chief designer Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Khan...
, and the structure most closely associated with Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive is a mostly freeway-standard expressway running parallel with and alongside the shoreline of Lake Michigan through Chicago, Illinois, USA. Except for the portion north of Foster Avenue , Lake Shore Drive is designated as part of U.S...
. It is the only major private structure on the lakefront side of Lake Shore Drive and likely to remain that way for the foreseeable future, given the city's prohibition on building on the lakefront.
Lake Point Tower was one of the first all-electric high-rise residential buildings in the world and pioneered the concept of the "Park in the City," being the first residential complex in a major city to have its own two-and-one-half acre park - including a playground, pool, duck pond, and waterfalls - three stories above ground. The building also features an assortment of shops and restaurants on the second and ground levels of the complex, under the third-floor park. Cite, a restaurant and bar on the top floor of the 70-floor residential tower, boasts spectacular views of the city and lake and serves gourmet French/American cuisine. The restaurant and lounge are open to the public.
Lake Point Tower's position between Lake Shore Drive and Navy Pier
Navy Pier
Navy Pier is a long pier on the Chicago shoreline of Lake Michigan. It is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area. The pier was built in 1916 at a cost of $4.5 million, equivalent to $ today. It was a part of the Plan of Chicago developed by architect and...
gives it unimpeded north, east, and south views that are protected, for the foreseeable future, by the ordinances controlling use of the city's lakefront. A wedge of the cityscape view to the southwest would have been lost to architect Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava Valls is a Spanish architect, sculptor and structural engineer whose principal office is in Zürich, Switzerland. Classed now among the elite designers of the world, he has offices in Zürich, Paris, Valencia, and New York City....
's Chicago Spire, which was to be built diagonally across from Lake Point Tower on the other side of Lake Shore Drive. However, the spire project was a casualty of the nation's economic recession - construction was halted in October, 2008.
Movies shot on location
Lake Point Tower has been host to many film shoots including:- Raw Deal (1986 film)Raw Deal (1986 film)Raw Deal is 1986 action film directed by John Irvin and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. It is the story of an elderly and embittered high-ranking FBI agent who wants to get revenge against a Mafia organization, and sends a former FBI agent played by Schwarzenegger to destroy the organization from...
- Folks! (film)Folks! (film)Folks! is a 1992 dark comedy film, directed by Ted Kotcheff. The movie starred Tom Selleck. The movie's tagline is: "Jon Aldrich is about to come face to face with the most terrifying force known to man.....
, (1991) - Straight TalkStraight TalkStraight Talk is an 1992 American comedy-film distributed by Hollywood Pictures, directed by Barnet Kellman and starring Dolly Parton and James Woods. Parton did not receive star-billing in any other theatrically-released films until the 2012 film Joyful Noise, alongside Queen Latifah...
, (1992) This film featured Dolly PartonDolly PartonDolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
and James WoodsJames WoodsJames Howard Woods is an American film, stage and television actor. Woods is known for starring in critically acclaimed films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Salvador, Nixon, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and in the television legal drama Shark. He has won three Emmy Awards, and has gained...
, and had Parton's character living in LPT. - While You Were SleepingWhile You Were SleepingWhile You Were Sleeping is a 1995 romantic comedy film directed by Jon Turteltaub and written by Daniel G. Sullivan and Frederic Lebow. It stars Sandra Bullock as Lucy, a Chicago Transit Authority token collector and Bill Pullman as Jack, the brother of a man whose life she saves, along with Peter...
, (1995) Parts of this film, starring Sandra BullockSandra BullockSandra Annette Bullock is an Academy Award winning American actress and producer who rose to fame in the 1990s after roles in successful films such as Demolition Man, Speed, The Net, A Time to Kill, and While You Were Sleeping. She continued with films such as Miss Congeniality, The Lake House,...
and Peter GallagherPeter GallagherPeter Killian Gallagher is an American actor, musician and writer. Since 1980, Gallagher has played many roles in numerous Hollywood films. He starred as Sandy Cohen in the television drama series The O.C. from 2003 to 2007...
, were shot in the building. - Meet the ParentsMeet the ParentsMeet the Parents is a 2000 American comedy film written by Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg and directed by Jay Roach. Starring Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller, the film chronicles a series of unfortunate events that befall a good-hearted but hapless male nurse while visiting his girlfriend's parents...
, (2000) - Category 6: Day of DestructionCategory 6: Day of DestructionCategory 6: Day of Destruction is a 2004 four-hour miniseries that was broadcast in the United States on CBS in two parts, with the first part aired on November 14 and the second on November 17. It was later released to DVD on February 15, 2005...
, (2004) In an outtake of this film, it is destroyed by a tornado in news footage. - The Lake HouseThe Lake HouseThe Lake House is a 2003 novel by James Patterson, a sequel to When the Wind Blows.-Plot:The Lake House tells the story of six extraordinary children, endowed with the power to fly after genetic engineering merged their DNA with that of birds, and who have to fight for their lives against...
, (2006) Hospital reception area filmed in LPT lobby.
Famous residents
Lake Point Tower has been home to many affluent Chicagoans past and present, including:- Jimmy Damon, singer, exclusive cover singer for Frank Sinatra
- David AxelrodDavid AxelrodDavid Axelrod may refer to:* David Axelrod * David Axelrod , Senior Advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama* David B. Axelrod , poet and educator...
, Political Consultant - Sharon Bialek, 4th accuser in Herman CainHerman CainHerman Cain is a candidate for the 2012 U.S. Republican Party presidential nomination.Cain has a background as a business executive, syndicated columnist, and radio host from Georgia. He served as chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza from 1986 to 1996...
sexual misconduct allegations - Ryne SandbergRyne SandbergRyne Dee Sandberg , nicknamed "Ryno" is a former Major League Baseball second baseman. During a 16-year baseball career, he played from 1981–1994 and 1996–97, spending nearly his entire career with the Chicago Cubs. He was named after relief pitcher Ryne Duren, and is recognized as one of the best...
, former Chicago CubsChicago CubsThe Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
player - Sammy SosaSammy SosaSamuel Peralta "Sammy" Sosa is a Dominican former professional baseball right fielder. Sosa played with four Major League Baseball teams over his career which spanned from 1989-2007....
, formerly of the Chicago CubsChicago CubsThe Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
baseball team - Alice CooperAlice CooperAlice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
, rock singer, songwriter and musician - Ozzie GuillénOzzie GuillénOswaldo José "Ozzie" Guillén Barrios is a Venezuelan-American former Major League Baseball player and current manager of the Miami Marlins. He managed the Chicago White Sox from 2004 to 2011 before asking for his release at the end of the 2011 season....
, Chicago White Sox former player, manager - Andre DawsonAndre DawsonAndre Nolan Dawson , nicknamed "The Hawk", is an American former center fielder and right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played for four different teams, spending most of his career with the Montreal Expos and Chicago Cubs .An 8-time National League All-Star, he was named the...
, former Chicago CubsChicago CubsThe Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
outfielder - Scottie PippenScottie PippenScottie Maurice Pippen is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association . He is most remembered for his time with the Chicago Bulls, with whom he was instrumental in six NBA Championships and their record 1995–96 season of 72 wins...
, former Chicago BullsChicago BullsThe Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
player - Goldie HawnGoldie HawnGoldie Jeanne Hawn is an American actress, film director, producer, and occasional singer. Hawn is known for her roles in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Private Benjamin, Foul Play, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and Cactus Flower, for which she won the 1969...
, actress - Kurt RussellKurt RussellKurt Vogel Russell is an American television and film actor. His first acting roles were as a child in television series, including a lead role in the Western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters...
, actor - Rich (Goose) Gossage, former Chicago White SoxChicago White SoxThe Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
pitcher and 2008 inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame - Mickey RooneyMickey RooneyMickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
, film and stage actor - Joakim NoahJoakim NoahJoakim Simon Noah is a professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association . Born in New York City to a Swedish mother and French father, he holds American, Swedish and French citizenship...
, Chicago BullsChicago BullsThe Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
Center - Jerry Riccioni, Peak antifreeze President
- B.J. Armstrong, former Chicago BullsChicago BullsThe Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
player
See also
- Chicago architectureChicago architectureThe architecture of Chicago has influenced and reflected the history of American architecture. The city of Chicago, Illinois features prominent buildings in a variety of styles by many important architects...
- List of buildings
- List of skyscrapers
- List of tallest buildings in Chicago
- List of tallest buildings in the United States
- World's tallest structures