Park Tower (Chicago)
Encyclopedia
Park Tower, located at 800 North Michigan Avenue in 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...

, is a 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...

 that was completed in 2000. At 844 feet (257 m) tall with 70 floors — 67 floors for practical use, it is the eleventh tallest building in Chicago, the 35th tallest building in the United States, and the eighty-third tallest in the world by architectural detail. It is one of the world's tallest buildings to be clad with architectural precast concrete (the Transamerica Pyramid
Transamerica Pyramid
The Transamerica Pyramid is the tallest skyscraper in the San Francisco skyline and one of its most iconic. Although the building no longer houses the headquarters of the Transamerica Corporation, it is still strongly associated with the company and is depicted in the company's logo...

 Building in San Francisco is taller). It is one of the tallest non-steel framed structures in the world—it is a cast-in-place concrete framed structure. This building was originally intended to be 650 feet (198 m) tall. But later, the ceiling heights were increased allowing it to reach 844 feet (257 m).

The building occupies a footprint of 28,000 square feet (2,601 m²). Because of the small footprint and the fact that it is a non-steel framed concrete building, this is the first building in the United States to be designed with a tuned mass damper
Tuned mass damper
A tuned mass damper, also known as an active mass damper or harmonic absorber, is a device mounted in structures to reduce the amplitude of mechanical vibrations. Their application can prevent discomfort, damage, or outright structural failure...

 from the outset. While other skyscrapers in America have anti-sway systems, they were always added later. A tuned mass damper counteracts wind effects on the structure. (The 300 ton damper is a massive steel pendulum hung from four cables inside a square cage) Because of its massive weight, the damper has inertia that helps stabilize the building from swaying in the wind.

Designed by Chicago architectural firm Lucien Lagrange Architects
Lucien Lagrange Architects
Lucien Lagrange & Associates or Lucien Lagrange Architects is an architecture firm founded by Lucien Lagrange in 1985. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010. The company is located at 605 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, and it has approximately sixty employees. The...

, Park Tower is a mixed use tower. As the name suggests, the lower portion holds a Park Hyatt Hotel while the upper levels contain luxury condominiums.

The building contains 193,000 square feet (17,930 m²) of hotel space (202 rooms), 475,000 square feet (44,129 m²) of residential space, 20,000 square feet (1,858 m²) of retail, and 92,000 square feet (8,547 m²) of parking. Levels 9, 19, and the crown are mechanical areas.

With its location on the prestigious Magnificent Mile
Magnificent Mile
The Magnificent Mile, sometimes referred to as The Mag Mile, is a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, that runs along a portion of Michigan Avenue extending from the Chicago River to Oak Street in the Near North Side community area. The district is located adjacent to downtown; it is also one block...

, Park Tower is also home to the acclaimed restaurant NoMi.

See also


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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