River City I, Chicago, Illinois, Model

Architecture and Design

c. 1977

Bertrand Goldberg
American, 1913-1997

Bertrand Goldberg’s first, unrealized plan for River City was a vast 230-acre development designed to attract new residents to then-industrial South Loop. His high-density plan centered on a new model of high-rise living organized not by individual towers but as horizontal groupings of residential floors and “community-service” levels spanning three linked towers. Each of these horizontal clusters of housing and services would become an independent community, with opportunities for socializing and running errands at small shops, library, post office, health center, and daycare—all on the 54th floor.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Architecture and Design

Artist: Bertrand Goldberg (Architect)
Title: River City I, Chicago, Illinois, Model
Place: Chicago (Building address)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Designed 1972–1982
Medium: Mixed media
Dimensions: Vitrine: 82.6 × 82.6 × 76.2 cm (32 1/2 × 32 1/2 × 30 in.)
Credit Line: The Archive of Bertrand Goldberg, gifted by his children through his estate
Reference Number: RX23664/110.416

Ragon, Michel. 1985. Goldberg: Dans la Ville - On the City. Exh. cat. Paris Art Center, p. 91.
Thorne, Martha. 2004. Unbuilt Chicago. Exh. cat. Art Institute of Chicago, cat. no. 14, p. 22.
Art Institute of Chicago. 2007. Bertrand Goldberg Collection Finding Aid.

The Art Institute of Chicago, “Past Forward: Architecture and Design Collection at the Art Institute,” December 21, 2019–June 14, 2020.
The Art Institute of Chicago, “Unbuilt Chicago,” Apr. 3, 2004-Jan. 16, 2005.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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