River City

In 1968, after the success of his Marina City, Bertrand Goldberg envisioned the culmination of his “city within a city” concept with his River City project. From the beginning, River City was designed to be another mixed-use, high-density community along the Chicago River just outside of the Loop. 

Construction began on River City II in 1983 and was completed in 1986. This mid-rise housing complex varied in height from eight to fifteen-stories and contained 446 dwelling units situated over four-stories of commercial space that included offices, restaurants, a gym, a private outdoor park, and a 70-boat marina. The façade of River City possesses vertically stacked curvilinear arches of each residential unit that is evocative of a railroad viaduct. 

Unlike Marina City, River City did not offer balconies. Instead, the River City units possess clerestories on the interior that provides light from the inner atrium; and inside the atrium is River Road, a private concourse modeled after European streets that serves as the main artery for the building’s residents and visitors. 

The River City II plan called for the extension of the snake-like structure, creating a small miniature “city within a city,” but that would ultimately never happen. A downturn in the real estate market during the mid-1980s stalled any construction for the foreseeable future. River City would be Bertrand Goldberg’s final urban housing project, and his dream of recreating urban society never fully came to fruition.