The Illinois
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The Mile-High Illinois, Illinois Sky City, or simply The Illinois is a visionary
skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...
that is proposed to be over high, conceived and described by American architect
Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
in his 1957 book, ''A Testament''. The design, intended to be built in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, included 528 stories, with a gross area of . Wright stated that there would be parking for 15,000 cars and 100 helicopters. If built, it would top the list of the
tallest buildings in the world This list of tallest buildings includes skyscrapers with continuously occupiable floors and a height of at least . Nonbuilding structure, Non-building structures, such as towers, are not included in this list (for these, see ''List of tallest ...
by far, being more than four times the height of the
Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...
, almost twice as tall as the world's current tallest building, the
Burj Khalifa The Burj Khalifa (; ar, برج خليفة, , Khalifa Tower), known as the Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration in 2010, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is known for being the world’s tallest building. With a total height ...
; and about taller than the proposed
Jeddah Tower Jeddah Tower ( ar, برج جدة), previously known as Kingdom Tower (), is a skyscraper construction project currently on hold. Located on the north side of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, it is planned to be the first tall building, and the centrep ...
the latter two both designed by
Adrian Smith Adrian Frederick "H" Smith (born 27 February 1957) is an English guitarist best known as a member of heavy metal band Iron Maiden, for whom he also writes songs and performs backing vocals both live and in the studio. Smith grew up in London ...
, whose designs for both buildings are said to have been inspired by that of The Illinois.


Technical feasibility

Wright believed that it would have been technically possible to construct such a building even at the time it was proposed. At the time, the tallest skyscraper in the world was
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
's Empire State Building, at less than a quarter of the height suggested for the Illinois. It probably would have been possible to erect a self-supporting steel structure of the required height, but there are a number of problems that occur when a building is that tall. The material used to build tall towers at the time,
steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
, is quite flexible. This allows towers to sway substantially in the wind, causing discomfort for occupants of the higher floors. Though Wright acknowledged this problem in his original proposal, he believed the tripod design of this tower (similar to that of the
CN Tower The CN Tower (french: Tour CN) is a concrete communications and observation tower in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Built on the former Railway Lands, it was completed in 1976. Its name "CN" referred to Canadian National, the railway c ...
, which was not designed until a decade after Wright's death) combined with its tensioned steel frame and the integral character of its structural components would counteract any
oscillation Oscillation is the repetitive or periodic variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value (often a point of equilibrium) or between two or more different states. Familiar examples of oscillation include a swinging pendulum ...
. This also could have been solved by placing a
tuned mass damper A tuned mass damper (TMD), also known as a harmonic absorber or seismic damper, is a device mounted in structures to reduce mechanical vibrations, consisting of a mass mounted on one or more damped springs. Its oscillation frequency is tuned ...
somewhere within the tower as was done in the
Citigroup Center The Citigroup Center (formerly Citicorp Center and also known by its address, 601 Lexington Avenue) is an office skyscraper in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Built in 1977 to house the headquarters of Citibank, it is tal ...
and
Taipei 101 Taipei 101 (; stylized as TAIPEI 101), formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a supertall skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. This building was officially classified as the world's tallest from its opening in 2004 until the 2009 ...
, although this design innovation was not well-known until decades later. The late 1990s and early 2000s saw substantial increases in the load-bearing strength of
concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...
, making it possible to build entirely in this stiff material. Wright explained that there would be 76 elevators, each having five-floor-high tandem cabs, serving blocks of five floors simultaneously. The 76 elevators would be divided into five banks or groups, with each elevator group serving a hundred-floor segment of the building. Wright's floor plan of the 528th floor shows it would be served by only one elevator shaft. The elevators were to be "atomic-powered", capable of mile-per-minute speeds, and running on ratchets instead of suspended by cables. But a realistic design would be powered by a "third rail" like subways. The elevator banks extend beyond the sloping exterior walls at various points, giving the building the appearance of an elongated pyramid with protruding parapets. He said these elevators would enable the building to be evacuated in one hour, in combination with escalators that would serve the five lowest floors. In his 1957 book, ''A Testament'', Wright described the proposed structure with floor plans of the "base", 320th, and 528th (highest) floors. The floor plan for the 320th floor shows a single, open staircase, not separated from the surrounding office space in any way, not even with a door. The floor plan of the 528th floor shows that access is solely by a single elevator, with no staircase at all. Wright believed that because his building was fireproof, any fire precautions would be moot.


Cultural references

*
Fang Island Fang Island was an American indie rock band formed in Providence, Rhode Island, and based in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. The group consisted of the guitarists Jason Bartell and Chris Georges, the bass guitarist Brock Hengin and the drummer ...
released a song called "The Illinois" on their 2010 self-titled album that was inspired by the design. *In 2014, Chicago-based
Goose Island Brewery Goose Island Beer Company is a brewery in Chicago, Illinois, that began as a single brewpub opened in 1988 in Lincoln Park, Chicago, and named after a nearby island. The larger production brewery opened in 1995, and a second brewpub, in Wrigleyv ...
began bottling an
IPA IPA commonly refers to: * India pale ale, a style of beer * International Phonetic Alphabet, a system of phonetic notation * Isopropyl alcohol, a chemical compound IPA may also refer to: Organizations International * Insolvency Practitioners ...
named ''The Illinois'' in honor of Wright's design, with label art featuring a hop cone design rendered to appear as if it were one of the architect's trademark stained glass windows.


See also

*
List of visionary tall buildings and structures This is a list of buildings and other structures that have been envisioned. Proposed structures The definition of 'vision' is that used by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. The list does not include under construction buildings ...
*
List of tallest buildings and structures in the world The world's tallest human-made structure is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (of the United Arab Emirates). The building gained the official title of "tallest building in the world" and the tallest self-supported structure at its opening on Januar ...
*
X-Seed 4000 The X-Seed 4000 was a concept megatall skyscraper. Its proposed height, sea-base, and 800-floor capacity could accommodate 500,000-1,000,000 inhabitants. This structure would be composed of over 3,000,000 tons of steel. It was designed for T ...
*
Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid The Shimizu TRY 2004 Mega-City Pyramid is a proposed Shimizu Corporation project for the construction of a massive self-sustaining arcology-pyramid over Tokyo Bay in Japan that would have businesses, parks, and other services contained within the ...
*
Sky Mile Tower The is a vision skyscraper building in Tokyo, Japan. The design of the tower is part of an initiative called Next Tokyo 2045 for research and developmental purposes and was made by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and Leslie E. Robertson Associa ...
*
Burj Khalifa The Burj Khalifa (; ar, برج خليفة, , Khalifa Tower), known as the Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration in 2010, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is known for being the world’s tallest building. With a total height ...
*
Jeddah Tower Jeddah Tower ( ar, برج جدة), previously known as Kingdom Tower (), is a skyscraper construction project currently on hold. Located on the north side of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, it is planned to be the first tall building, and the centrep ...
*
Chicago Spire The Chicago Spire was a skyscraper project in Chicago that was partially built between 2007 and 2008 before being cancelled. Located at 400 N. Lake Shore Drive, it would have stood high with 150 floors and been the tallest building in the Weste ...
*
Arcology Arcology, a portmanteau of "architecture" and "ecology",. is a field of creating architectural design principles for very densely populated and ecologically low-impact human habitats. The term was coined in 1969 by architect Paolo Soleri, who be ...
*
Barad-Dûr In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, Mordor (pronounced ; from Sindarin ''Black Land'' and Quenya ''Land of Shadow'') is the realm and base of the evil Sauron. It lay to the east of Gondor and the great river Anduin, and to t ...


References


External links


One mile high tower Video: A peaceful day in Broadacre cityItalian page on the Illinois
* ttp://archrecord.construction.com/innovation/2_Features/0411history.asp Details several tall building designs, including The Illinois*
High resolution image of The Illinois drawing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Illinois Frank Lloyd Wright buildings Unbuilt buildings and structures in the United States Proposed buildings and structures in Illinois Proposed skyscrapers in the United States Unbuilt skyscrapers