CHICAGO | Miglin Beitler Skyneedle | 2,000 FT / 610 M | 125 FLOORS | NEVER BUILT

[M II A II R II K]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miglin-Beitler_Skyneedle

The Miglin-Beitler Skyneedle was a proposed 125-floor skyscraper intended for Chicago, United States by Lee Miglin and J. Paul Beitler. The site of the proposed Skyneedle now is host to a parking garage. However, across the street (Wells Street) from the parking garage is another César Pelli project, 181 West Madison Street, which reportedly inspired the general design of the Skyneedle. Visually the upper floors of the Skyneedle do appear to be similar to a stretched 181 W Madison.

The Miglin-Beitler Skyneedle was designed by César Pelli, who also designed the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. If it had been built in 1988, the Miglin-Beitler Skyneedle would have been the tallest building in the world. The Petronas Towers have an obvious design reference, with the exception of having round floorplates as opposed to square ones.

http://archiv.neviditelnypes.zpravy.cz/architek/0805b.jpg

[M II A II R II K]

I would have to say that of all the cancelled projects it's too bad that this one didn't make it.

The first gulf war I believe is partially to blame for that.

[BVictor1]

I would have to say that of all the cancelled projects it's too bad that this one didn't make it.

The first gulf war I believe is partially to blame for that.

That and the overbuilding and credit crunch of the late 80's and early 90's.

[cbotnyse]

That and the overbuilding and credit crunch of the late 80's and early 90's.sounds like much of the same today. :sly: Looks like we've come full circle in 20 years.

[BVictor1]

sounds like much of the same today. :sly: Looks like we've come full circle in 20 years.

Yes and no. During that round, we didn't have any supertalls built, now there are 3 under construction.

That crisis didn't last and neither will this one.

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ Well AT&T is technically a supertall and, depending on if you go with 300m or 1000' so is 2pru...

[cbotnyse]

Yes and no. During that round, we didn't have any supertalls built, now there are 3 under construction.

That crisis didn't last and neither will this one.I think this credit crisis is much deeper, but our boom seems to holding up with few casualties so far. Also, fuel prices are more than double what they were in the 90s. We are in difficult times, but my fingers are crossed.

[Ducov]

Really like this one, shame in never got built. It wasn't just the appearance that inspired the petronas, but also the then new core and outrigger concrete system, designed specifically for the project (due to it's narrowness) that was later used on the Petronas Towers

[spyguy]

Probably my favorite never built supertall in Chicago. Reminds me of something you'd see in Gotham City.

[Patrick]

Yeah Its a shame not to see this one make it, however I would have preferred this over 7 South Dearborn, too bad neither were built, this was the classier one.

http://archiv.neviditelnypes.zpravy.cz/architek/0805b.jpg

[Lost Island]

In over 5 years here, I've somehow missed that this proposal was from the '80s. This is from around the same time as Trump's Television City in New York, then. It's hard to believe that in all the the big '80s excess, no one ever got one of these superscrapers up.

[Fabb]

Nice design, very poor location.
The skyline would have been spectacular though.

[Jibba]

I don't know, height is really the only redeeming attribute of this building for me. Well, it is very classy looking I guess, and with Pelli at the helm I'm sure the details would have been sophisticated and very graceful. The set-back scheme is just too awkward for me, though; there are just too many of them and the relative proportions of them make the building look more squat than 2,000 ft. should look. Can't say I'm all that upset this was never built, but I could just be bitter that it never happened and I am rationalizing my distaste for it out of spite :) .

[Stratosphere]

Large scans for your viewing pleasure.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u110/vietmusique/buildings/m-b_1.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u110/vietmusique/buildings/m-b_2.jpg

[SportsWorld]

Large scans for your viewing pleasure.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u110/vietmusique/buildings/m-b_1.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u110/vietmusique/buildings/m-b_2.jpg

WOW, just WOW. This building would have looked amazing! :(

[canucklehead2]

I can't remember but what if anything was built on the site? I think it was a parking garage right? So maybe we might just see this tower rise into the Chicago skyline at some point...

Personally I'd love to see 7 South Dearborn, MB Skyneedle, Chicago Spire and maybe P-2000 eventually built, although I know in the latter's case a new building was just put up...

[ethereal_reality]

The best thing about this proposal was it's height.

The design reminds me of the 1925 Larkin Tower proposal for NYC.

http://img393.imageshack.us/img393/1750/larkintowerproposal1925gg9.jpg
Larkin Tower, 1,208 ft. Pretty much unimaginative.

[JDRCRASH]

Yeah, Miglin Beitler Skyneedle was a gorgeous proposal.

[mthq]

I don't like. It reminds me of a 1930s proposal you'd find in New York. That, and it's way too tall for my liking.

[BVictor1]

I don't like. It reminds me of a 1930s proposal you'd find in New York. That, and it's way too tall for my liking.

The words too tall and Chicago don't mix well.

[Alliance]

This is was building that I have always been thrilled that it was never built.

[Tom In Chicago]

^predictible. . . redundant. . . :rolleyes:

[Tom In Chicago]

I can't remember but what if anything was built on the site? I think it was a parking garage right? So maybe we might just see this tower rise into the Chicago skyline at some point...

Yep. . . a multi-level parking structure still remains at this site. . .

[Dr. Taco]

I'm just excited about whatever pelli has in store for wolf point. hurry up, future!

[Starsky]

Large scans for your viewing pleasure.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u110/vietmusique/buildings/m-b_1.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u110/vietmusique/buildings/m-b_2.jpg

Im inclined to agree with alot of the people here. Other than FLW's Illinois, this is a favorite never built building. It's a classic art deco, looks straight out of something from a Batman Comic book and belongs in Chicago or Manhattan. You can just imagine Christopher Walken surveying the city from the top floor as Mayor of Chicago in some crime movie.

It looks a helluva alot better than the chicago twirly one.

[DecoJim]

I mostly agree with Starsky, the large image shows great details and the first few setbacks look very good. Towards the top however, there are too many simple setbacks - just a series of slightly smaller boxes one on top of another. I would like it better if the main shaft of the structure was extended and some of the upper setbacks reduced in height or eliminated. I do remember my disappointment when this project never went anywhere.

[Starsky]

I mostly agree with Starsky, the large image shows great details and the first few setbacks look very good. Towards the top however, there are too many simple setbacks - just a series of slightly smaller boxes one on top of another. I would like it better if the main shaft of the structure was extended and some of the upper setbacks reduced in height or eliminated. I do remember my disappointment when this project never went anywhere.

Yes, there are a few too many in the upper half of the building, it needs to be a bit wider in the upper area to take away the antenna/cn tower vibe. The Jin Mao was a good example of having alot of setbacks but still maintaining a decent size of the building.

Alot of the new supertalls just dont seem as impressive as the Sears because they got supersmall at the top and dont look as much like a skyscraper. Exceptions are the SWFC and the 2 towers in Hong Kong those are really good.

[JDRCRASH]

It's too bad this was never built. It would have looked so attractive!

[NYC4Life]

This tower looks so much better than the Spire, and fits the skyline better.

[DecoJim]

This isn't much but here is a scan of a mini article that I clipped from a Detroit Free Press magazine before it was canceled (yes I have been interested in skyscrapers for over 20 years). Note the extremely bad proportions of the Sears Tower diagram (most likely because they got the 1454 foot height mixed up with the higher mast height of 1707 feet at that time).

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3092/2837310545_c9f1f5486b.jpg

[JDRCRASH]

:(

[America 117]

I dont really like it at all.
but maybe if it was built as twin towers it would be nice!

[Zerton]

This would have been one of my top 3 favorite buildings

[HomrQT]

Maybe this could go where the Spire's site is at.... :D

[Bootstrap Bill]

Maybe this could go where the Spire's site is at.... :D

They should build Frank LLoyd Wright's "The Illinois" building.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Illinois

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/83/The_Illinois.jpg

[HomrQT]

They should build Frank LLoyd Wright's "The Illinois" building.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Illinois

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/83/The_Illinois.jpg

As cool as the Illinois is.. the Miglin Beitler Skyneedle is more appealing to me. Both visually as an individual building and also the kind of impact it would have on the skyline. The Illinois would be overwhelmingly dominant over the rest of the city.

[Ehrgeiz91]

This is a truly gorgeous design. Would've definitely taken over Sears as Chicago's icon. A real pity this didn't happen. :(

[AvatarMike]

I think one day, both this and the Illinois will be built. You gotta remember that Chicago lost alot of people between the 50s and 80s because of suburban and southern migration. Now Chicago is recovering, and as a major Architectual center of the world, it still has alot to offer but as for now, man, it looks really awesome.

Sad to see in the 80s America held all 5 spots for the tallest building in the world, and with the exception of the Spiral(lol twirly one:P ) that will be it for America. Im glad to see other nations represent their buildings, but come on America!

They should have digitally put this in the new Batman Movies, afterall, Gotham was shot in Chicago.

[GregBear24]

Height is overrated. A majority of the best looking, most architecturally significant buildings in chicago are under- say 600ft or so. Many of these foreign nations recently entered the period we were in the 1920's and they want to show the world how great they are. I find nothing wrong with that, since it would be hypocritical of any american to spite it. However, we did invent the skyscraper and brought this technology to the world. In a way, these great supertalls going up around the world pay homage to chicago and new york scraper' building just by existing. Lebron and Kobe wouldn't do what they're doing without being inspired by jordan. James might be bigger and stronger, but jordan is the real king of basketball and no one argues. I find no need for america to go bigger if it's not functional and efficient enough, and the free market has no demand for it. Instead, america needs to focus on better design, and even in chicago we need to push the envelope more while also returning to our roots. The skyneedle is a wonderful design indeed, but if it's not feasible to build it then so be it. Kelleher made his fortune investing in real estate, and the fact he got burned so bad by the markets- both with the spire and his other investments- shows that perhaps he had this coming. Perhaps we all did, but the point is that urban development should be a product of free markets and not government-backed pissing contests. The trend still remains that people are moving back to chicago, and young people from all over continue to desire living here. Over time, this trend could give us more highrise and supertall development due to increased demand, but we'll see if that trend can overcome our shady financial and political environment.

Hope I didn't go too off topic here.

[scalziand]

Looking Down at the Sears Tower

An 1,486'-high observation deck in the Miglin-Beitler Tower will enable visitors to look down at the 1,454' Sears Tower

By Charles H. Thornton, P.E.; Udon Hungspruke; and Robert P. DeScenza, P.E.

At 1,999'-11 1/2" to the tip of its spire, the Miglin-Beitler Tower will provide a new cap for Chicago's skyline-while establishing new records for both the world's tallest building and the world's tallest non-guyed structure.

A simple and elegant integration of building form and function has emerged from close coordination of architectural, structural, and development team members. The resulting cruciform tube scheme offers structural efficiency, superior dynamic behavior, ease of construction, and minimal intrusion of leased office floors for this 125-story office building. But what really distinguishes it from its existing brethren in the very small family of 100+ story buildings is its relatively small plates that will enable smaller-sized firms to rent entire floors.

http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/7128/beitler1.jpg

Structural System

The challenge of the design team was creating an economic and buildable structural system capable of resisting vertical and lateral loads for a supertall building with a relatively small footprint. The challenge was met with a composite system exploiting the advantages of both steel and concrete. The stiffness of high-strength concrete was combined with the advantages of a steel floor system, including its inherent strength, speed of construction, and flexibility to allow tenant changes.

The cruciform tube structural system has six major components:

+A 62'-6" x 62'-6" concrete core with walls of varying thickness. The interior cross walls of the core are generally not penetrated with openings. This significantly contributes to the lateral stiffness.

+Eight cast-in-place concrete fin columns are located on the faces of teh building and extend up to 20' beyond the 140'x140' tower footprint. They vary in dimension from 6'-6"x 33' at the base to 5'-6"x15' at the middle to 4'-6"x13' near the top.

+Exterior steel Vierendeel trusses consisting of horizontal spandrels and two vertical columns are located at each of the 61' wide faces on the four sides of the building between the fin columns. Exterior steel vierendeel trusses are used to pick up each of the four cantilevered corners of the building. These vierendeel trusses provide additional resistance to lateral forces as well as improving the resistance of the entire structural system to torsion. In addition, the trusses transfer deadload to the fin columns to eliminate tensile and uplift forces in the fin columns. All corner columns are eliminated providing for corner offices with undisturbed views. Connections between the steel vierendeel trusses and the concrete fin columns are typically simple shear connections, which minimize construction costs and expedite erection.

+Eight link beams connect the four corners of the core to the eight fin columns at every floor. These reinforced concrete beams are haunched at both ends for increased stiffness and reduced depth at mid-span to allow for passage of mechanical ducts. By linking the fin columns and the cor they enable the full width of the building to act in resisting lateral forces. In addition to link beams at every floor, sets of two-story deep outrigger walls are located at levels 16, 56, and 91. These outrigger walls enhance the interaction between exterior fin and columns and the core.

+The conventional structural steel composite floor system has 18" deep rolled steel beams spaced approximately 10' on center. A slab of stone concrete topping spans between the beams. The steel floor system is supported by the cast-in-place concrete elements.

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/4543/beitler2.jpg

+A 600'-tall steel framed tower tops the building. This braced frame will house observation levels, window washing equipment rooms, and an assortment of broadcasting equipment.

Lateral Forces

The proposed building and structural system has undergone extensive wind tunnel testing at RWDI in Guelph, Ontario. Pressure tap model, pedestrian level studies, high frequency force balance and aeroelastic models have been used to determine the static and dynamic behavior of the project under wind loadings.

http://img397.imageshack.us/img397/9056/beitler3.jpg

In addition to providing ample resistance to all expected wind loads, the design has received a superior performance rating in its ability to virtually eliminate occupant perception of wind movements and accelerations.

Three separate computer programs, EASE-II, SAP90, and ETABS provided parallel checks on the accuracy and adequacy of 16 independent two-dimensional and three-dimensional static and dynamic computer analyses. The parallel sets of models were compared to validate computer approaches. Static displacements and dynamic mode shapes from the two sets of analyses were in very close agreement. Overall displacements, modal shapes and natural frequencies differed by less than 10%.

Although only UBC Zone I is applicable, the structural system was investigated for the effects of a UBC Zone 2 earthquake and was found satisfactory.

Foundations

The foundation system proposed for this project uses caissons varying from 8'-6" to 10'-6" in diameter. Each 95'-long caisson has a straight shaft and a rock socket a minimum of 6' into competent rock. The caissons are tied together with a series of grade beams. Passive pressure on the edge of these lugs and on the projected side surfaces of the caissons provides the base shear resistance for the tower.

Steel Vierendeel Trusses

On each of the four faces of the building, steel vierendeel trusses are employed to frame the 61' clear opening between the fin columns. The trusses consist of a W36 horizontal beam at each level with two W36 verticals. To eliminate stress produced by creep and shrinkage strains in the concrete fin columns, the verticals in the truss are provided with vertical slip connections. this has the added benefit of channeling all of the gravity loads on each of the building faces out to the fin columns to help eliminate uplift forces on the foundations.

The steel face Vierendeels are to be shop fabricated as horizontal trusses 12'-6" tall by 61' long. Field connections are simple bolted connections. this system allows for all of the welded connections to be shop fabricated, which results in an economical and elegant solution.

At each of teh corners of the Miglin-Beitler Tower, the floor slabs protrude beyond the fin columns by up to 26'. Again, it was desirable to channel the gravity loads from these areas to the fin columns to help eliminate uplift in the foundations due to lateral loads.

An added challenge was to frame the corners without having a vertical element at the corner, thus allowing the corner offices unobstructed views. The solution to this problem was a vierendeel truss, similar to the face vierendeels. The corner Vierendeels are to consist of a horizontal steel beam at each level with a vertical steel beam at the center of each face, thus allowing the corners of the building to be column free. Unlike the face vierendeels, all the vertical connections are not slip connections. This is to allow the corner vierendeels to resist unbalanced floor loads.

Topping the tower will be a 600'-tall steel-framed spire. The main structural framing consists of 12 exterior columns that cascade out at each of the setback levels. Each level of the spire contains horizontal bracing that stabilizes the structure. In addition, each of the elevations is typically x-braced, with the exception of a three story segment at the observation levels, where the design team desired to take advantage of the views.

Several steel vierendeel frames were analyzed to come up with an optimal solution that would minimize obstructions to the [ ] view. Topping off the spire is a section of 8' diameter steel tube. The tube is to be perforated with openings that allow for the installation of a wide range of broadcast equipment.
From Modern Steel Construction August 1991

[STR]

Supposedly this one was going to share design details with Pelli's 181 W Madison across the street.

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/6229/chi0924xl.jpg

[denizen467]

^ Same architect, same time period.

No one here ever posted the front page of the Wall Street Journal (sometime in 1990?) that had this running like half the length of the page. Sexy stuff. That page should go into some Unbuilt Chicago display/collection.

[M II A II R II K]

With the parking lot still there, something tall may end up in that spot some day, even if it's not a supertall.

[ardecila]

I do like how the parking garage allows the Madison/Wells intersection to get some daylight. With the modernized elevated train station, it forms a nice urban vignette that's very well-lit.

[Phil McAvity]

"The Petronas Towers have an obvious design reference, with the exception of having round floorplates as opposed to square ones."-Wikipedia article on Miglin Beitler Skyneedle.

I'm surprised that Wikipedia would say such a thing since the main thing that separates Petronas from other supertalls is it's cylindrical shape. I guess because Pelli designed both, the writer of that blurb on wikipedia just decided they must look the same......but they don't. In fact about the only architectural feature they share is the spire on top. Miglin-Beitler was much more like the Empire State Building than it is Petronas. The Miglin-Beitler Skyneedle also showed what a great architect Pelli is due to to how different his designs are. Cesar Pelli is everything Frank Gehry should be.

I think one day, both this and the Illinois will be built. You gotta remember that Chicago lost alot of people between the 50s and 80s because of suburban and southern migration. Now Chicago is recovering, and as a major Architectual center of the world, it still has alot to offer but as for now, man, it looks really awesome.

This is another ridiculous comment. The reason the Illinois was never built had little to do with mass exodus from the city and much more to do with the difficulties in trying to finance such a huge project. Do you think it's a coincidence that the Chicago Spire (which is a way less ambitious project than the Illinois) went tits up at the same time the recession hit? I don't think so. Not only that but if such an exodus occurred, how is it that Chicago has built numerous supertalls since the Illinois was proposed? I think you have Chicago mixed up with cities like Detroit and St. Louis.

[meh_cd]

It's such a shame this thing was never built.

[Roadcruiser1]

This building is interesting, but again I think it has too many set backs. If it is to be built in the past or the future it should look more like a taller Empire State Building.

[Tony73]

Well this tower will be perfect for Manhattan. :tup:

[Pete8680]

Sigh...... What a shame this was not built. Of all the buildings proposed that where never built at 1,900 plus feet, this was the best. The Sky City proposal in Changsha sort of looks like this but squatter yet taller.

[ChiTownWonder]

it wouldn't fit well in the skyline. the setbacks leading up to a point is more New York style. if you look at the supertalls in chicago, 5 out of 6 of them are flat roofed.

[HomrQT]

I still wish this would happen for Chicago... =/

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u110/vietmusique/buildings/m-b_1.jpg

[maru2501]

^ 7SD was better

[Randomguy34]

I still wish this would happen for Chicago... =/


Who knows, maybe we will get something like that if SHoP designs the tower. At this point, only time will tell what will happen next. Here's hoping that the best design gets picked

[Busy Bee]

Ah the olde MBT... makes me feel like a kid again. It could be proposed right now and I doubt anyone would call it an anachronism.

[scalziand]

^I just think it's impressive that the structure of MBT representeda shift away from the (bundled) core-tube type structures, paving the way for a lot of the supertalls that have gone up around the world since then, which have the core/outrigger type construction.

[chicubs111]

The skyneedle is the best supertall proposal that Chicago never got :( ... I wish this building would some how become resurected because its actually a very elegant building for a supertall and without of doube would of replaced the sears tower or hancock as chicago's signature building. The only thing i would critique on this building would be the number of setback which can easily be reduced to have and still have the same proportions

[WhatTheHeck5205]

Not sure if anyone saw the recent American Crime Story miniseries about the murder of Gianni Versace, but Versace and Lee Miglin were killed by the same person and Miglin’s plans for the Skyneedle are featured in flashback scenes about Miglin’s death.

[rgarri4]

UjthIntpesE

[canucklehead2]

Awesome rendering! I STILL want this tower to be built along with almost all of the 2000-ish era and height towers like 7SD, Project 2000, Wolf Point... Sigh!