Bertrand Goldberg (original) (raw)

The Detroit Marina City proposals were further developments of the Chicago Marina City agenda of urban density and mixed use. Three different proposals were proposed n the 1960s, with greater ambition and further developments in shape.

The first project was proposed in 1962 as three towers on the river’s edge, two as apartments and one a hotel. The site planning featured water edge recreation: bicycling, golf course, roller skating, fish and casting club, swimming pool, tennis and ice skating, boat storage, etc. The development was endorsed by Walter P. Reuther, president of the UAW Union.

In 1966 this was followed by a new design with towers along the river, with low cylindrical-shaped buildings between each group of three towers. Possibly the first use of the “clustered towers”, these early versions did not have the upper-story sky-bridges that were part of the later River City project.

The last proposal in 1967 was for different site and featured a single tower combined with an unusual “tube-like” commercial building. The tower was cantilevered off a central core, an early example of the structural “weaving wall” concept without columns. The commercial building was an elevated long tube, curved in plan as an S-shape, ultimately looping the base of the tower. The tube largely housed commercial shops, with parking for cars. With the tube elevated on armatures, the ground level included multiple recreational activities including roller skating and bicycle paths, fishing areas and boat launches.