“with a grid, but with no memory”

 

Chicago Architectural Foundation: “Models of visionary plans from the past float over the Chicago Model.”

Instant City 
Stanley Tigerman
1966
Dwight D. Eisenhower Expressway

An inscription from Tigerman’s retrospective exhibition at The Graham Foundation earlier this year stated:

Stanley Tigerman’s native Chicago has been a vital component of his self-identity. As a city “with a grid, but with no memory,” Chicago is truly the progeny not only of its pragmatist culture but also of the architectural hegemony of Mies van der Rohe. …  

The image above is from an exhibition at the Chicago Architectural Foundation. Documentation for this model explains:

Stanley Tigerman rethought the urban tower with Instant City, a proposal that makes use of underutilized space above an expressway. While infrastructure often challenges the continuity of the urban design, Instant City takes advantage of the highway by leaping over it. Each tower consists of two slim legs that lean against one another. Visitors travel on diagonal elevators through the lower commercial floors into the upper stories, which contain apartments.

This project shows how megastructures can reconnect cities divided by transportation networks.  

Model courtesy DSM’s Somos® Materials group.