Gang's Wanda Vista Tower Unveiled

As reported by the Chicago Tribune's Blair Kamin, the $900 million mixed-use project, to be called Wanda Vista, "would contain a five-star hotel with about 250 rooms, 390 condominium units and about 9,000 square feet of shops." Further, "the timing of the announcement coincided with the onset of U.S.-China trade talks in Chicago."

Studio Gang Architects was rumored in July to be designing a tower for Wanda Group, headed by China's richest man, Wang Jianlin. Jeanne Gang's firm declined comment at the time (and still declined to comment on the specifics of the design for Kamin's article), but now their involvement is official with the project's unveiling.

The design, which fronts the Chicago River to the north, is like three towers in one, each zigzag portion rising to a different height like a contemporary rendition of the Willis Tower. The middle tower straddles a north-south street that connects East Wacker Drive to the center of the Lakeshore East development. Its tallest tower will rise to 88 stories, making it one of the tallest buildings in Chicago whenever it is completed; groundbreaking is targeted for 2016.