River City

Building on the concept of the iconic Marina City, Bertrand Goldberg envisioned River City as a tall, dense riverfront “city-within-a-city.” After more than a decade of revisions and battles with city planners and investors, the project was built in a smaller snake-like form. Goldberg said this was an “unfolding” of the original tower plan. Behind rusticated stone arches evoking railroad viaducts is a massive mixed-use complex with commercial space and a 70-slip marina. Higher up, residences flank the meandering River Road, a soaring concourse whose concrete curves and glass-block ceiling remain futuristic to this day.

Bertrand Goldberg, 1986