The Promontory Apartments: Mies van der Rohe's First Skyscraper

Located at 5530 South Shore Drive, the Promontory Apartments is a 22-story skyscraper in Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois. It was the first skyscraper designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and the first of his buildings to feature an exposed skeleton structure. The cooperative building overlooks Burnham Park and contains 122 units.

In 1946, real estate developer Herbert Greenwald decided to build a new cooperative housing high-rise in Hyde Park, the first such building in the area since the Great Depression. Greenwald sought a high-profile architect for the project and first contacted Frank Lloyd Wright, who offered to design the building for an advance payment of $50,000. Greenwald did not have the money on hand, so he contacted Le Corbusier, who stated he would not design buildings in the United States. Eero Saarinen also rejected the commission. Finally, Greenwald offered the project to Walter Gropius in Boston, who rejected it because it was too far from his main offices. Gropius suggested Greenwald turn to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who had offices in Chicago.

Mies developed a design featuring a steel curtain wall, which Greenwald rejected. Mies then submitted a second design with an exposed concrete structure on all sides with low brick spandrel walls and full-width windows on two sides, which Greenwald approved. After securing a mortgage in Spring 1947, construction began that Fall and the building was completed in 1949. The success of the Promontory Apartments inspired Greenwald to commission Mies for more than ten additional apartment projects and encouraged the commissioning of the Seagram Building in New York City.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons