The Chicago Spire is a mammoth 2,000-foot high, 1,200-unit condominium tower that was unveiled this Fall and is scheduled to open in 2011. The Spire is designed by architect Santiago Calatrava with an eye toward nature. The curvature of the spire is modeled on the mathematics of the golden ratio or the Fibonacci sequence.
The Chicago Spire is being designed with sustainability in mind. It aims to meet the Gold standard of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. It will use river water for cooling, will recycle rainwater and is using special glass to protect migratory birds. The building systems will incorporate sensors to intelligently manage the building.
I viewed a wonderful video presentation of this project at Autodesk World Press Days. The video was created using Autodesk’s Image Works software, taking you through the travels of a white dove as it circled the building, and then transfering to a water droplet as it fell into a pool at the base of the building. A portion of this video can be viewed on the Chicago Spire website.
The project is underway, with reported brisk sales of the pricey units. The smallest units are set to fetch $750,000, with four-bedroom units at $5.8 million. This will be the tallest all-residential building in the world, and will cost $1 Billion to erect.
