Aqua Tower

           For over a hundred years now, men have been asserting their masculinity by raising phallic structures high into the sky. From the Empire State building in 1931 to the Willis (Sears) tower in 1974, to the Burj Khalifa in 2009, the architects who designed these buildings surely must be the manliest of men. But in Chicago, in 2010, a building was completed and this building was designed by a woman. A woman? Design a skyscraper? Impossible. Well, it is in fact very possible, but height is not the most important feature of Jeanne Gang’s Aqua tower. Though the structure is eighty-two stories and 859 feet tall, its size blends in with the many other tall buildings in the loop lake front area of Chicago. Unlike her male counterparts, Gang was not asserting her dominance, but instead creating a unique work of art.

            The outside of Aqua tower appears, just as the name suggests, aquatic. The entire surface of the building seems to ripple like the waves of Lake Michigan only two blocks away. The curvatures of the protruding balconies are reminiscent of Antonio Gaudi’s Casa Milá. Each floor of the Aqua has a unique balcony design which extends out from the building in a range of lengths from one to twelve feet. The pattern of all the balconies combined with the shimmering blue glass, makes the building appear to undulate.

            Aqua tower designed by Jeanne Gang and Studio Gang architects had its ground breaking in 2006. The building took four years to complete and opened in November of 2010.The cost of the project was over 475 million dollars. The building is now home to a hotel, luxury apartments and condominiums, street level retail space, a track, and a huge rooftop garden.

            No matter what is now housed inside the building, the Aqua tower is an artistic structure which reflects the nearby Lake Michigan and Chicago River as well as fitting in with the surrounding architecture. Aqua tower is distinctive in its design yet not too distinct that it disrupts the flow of the Chicago skyline. In some ways this blending is an important aspect of architecture, but if you are looking for the most innovative design the Aqua blends in a bit too much, especially when viewed from a distance where the wiggling balconies are hard to see. From afar the Aqua can seem like just another tall glassy box surrounded by dozens of tall glassy boxes.

            The shape of the building, the practicality of the balconies, and the environmental friendliness of the building are all topics of disagreement in regards to the Aqua, but all of these are discussed through the lens of gender. The Aqua, being designed by a woman, has been put under further scrutiny and Jeanne Gang has been applauded as if she just accomplished a feat that men mastered a hundred years ago. But we must see beyond these practicalities; architecture is another form of art and the Aqua is a creative architectural addition to the Chicago lakefront skyline.