LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE THE 860-880 LAKE SHORE DRIVE APARTMENTS "skin and bones" architecture “glass house" apartments CHICAGO, USA, 1951

TIPSKA ETAŽA

TIPSKA ETAŽA

THE 900-910 LAKE SHORE DRIVE APARTMENTS THE ESPLANADE APARTMENTS LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE THE 900-910 LAKE SHORE DRIVE APARTMENTS THE ESPLANADE APARTMENTS "skin and bones" architecture “glass House" apartments CHICAGO, USA, 1956

The Esplanade Apartments were the first high-rise buildings designed by Mies to fully implement a continuous exterior curtain wall that was articulated separate from the building’s structural frame. This technology was used by Mies in all his future high-rise projects, including the celebrated Seagram Building completed in 1958, and has become the standard in modern high quality high-rise construction.

At 860–880, Mies relied on steel I-beams internally to form the building’s load-bearing structure as well as externally as mullions. Some critics objected that many of the external I-beams at 860–880 were decorative rather than necessary. In an interview published in Architectural Forum (November 1952), Mies responded: “ …We looked at it on the model without the steel section [I-beams] attached to the corner columns and it did not look right. That is the real reason. Now the other reason is that the steel section was needed to stiffen the plate which covers the corner column so this plate would not ripple, and also we needed it for strength when the sections were hoisted into place. Now, of course, that’s a very good reason — but the other one is the real reason.” The extruded aluminum mullions used at 900–910, on the other hand, do have a structural (as well as aesthetic) function: they stiffen the curtain wall, permitting it to stand clear of the building’s load-bearing frame. The free-standing curtain wall opens space between the wall and the buildings’ frame, which accommodates pipes for heating and air-conditioning the units. The technology pioneered at the Esplanade Apartments continued to be used by Mies in later works such as the Seagram Building in New York.

The Esplanade Apartments were constructed in 1955 of concrete, glass, aluminum, and steel. Both buildings are 29 floors high, with a combined total of 524 units. The 900 building houses 371 units, (14 per floor), and the 910 building houses 153 units (6 units per floor). They were converted in 1979 from apartments to condominiums and today approximately 85% of the property is owner-occupied.

Unit sizes, in approximate square feet are as follows: Studio — 500 Convertible — 645 One-Bedroom — 841–887 Two-Bedroom —1130–1179 Three-Bedroom — 1436 Combined units — many owners have combined up to three units to create larger apartments

LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE AND PHILIP JOHNSON SEAGRAM BUILDING PARK AVENUE, NEW YORK, 1958