Aqua, Chicago, Illinois

Aqua, Chicago, IL.

Although, I'm usually drawn to older, historical buildings, I thought I'd start this blog with something contemporary, but also historical in its own right. Aqua, an almost brand new skyscraper in Chicago, has a lot going for it. Not surprisingly it gets its name from the rippling surface. How did architect Jeanne Gang do it? By using concrete plates of slightly different sizes for each floor. It's a simple concept with dramatic results.

The finished building stands 859 feet high. The 86 floors are topped by a "green" roof to tap solar energy and collect rain water. Upon it's completion in 2009, Aqua won the Emporis Skyscraper Award. What else makes it so special? As of 2012, Aqua is still the tallest building in the world designed by a woman architect. Skyscrapers often get a bum rap these days. They're dismissed as big glass and concrete boxes with nothing impressive about them except their height. In many cases, that's true. But Aqua proves that the skyscraper can still delight and amaze us, just as the first tall buildings did over a hundred years ago. It's fitting that Aqua was built for Chicago, home of some of the most well-known skyscrapers in America, including the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower), and the Lake Shore Drive Apartments by architectural great, Mies van de Rohe.

Gang's talents haven't gone unnoticed. She's won a slew of awards, among them a MacArthur "genius" grant in 2011 for her innovative work in architecture. Aqua is one cool building designed by one of the coolest architects around.

Want find out more? Follow these links:
Aqua at Emporis for vital stats and more pics.
"Jeanne Gang: The Art of Nesting," a profile at Metropolitan Magazine by Stephen Zacks
Take a tour of Aqua at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
If you want to learn more about the history of skyscrapers, past and present, read Skyscrapers: A History of the World's Most Extraordinary Buildings by Judith Dupre.

Photo Credits: Studio Gang Architects