To see Mies van der Rohe’s first foray into designing residential towers look directly south of our buildings to 860–880 Lake Shore Drive.

Completed in 1951, these twin glass-and-steel highrises — identical 26-story towers only 46 feet apart — were unprecedented. Although they may not appear radical today, they revolutionized urban residential architecture with their minimalist glass-and-steel appearance and the exposure of the buildings’ structure. 860-880 were the first buildings by Mies to earn Chicago Landmark status.

Photo: Chicago History Museum: HB-13809-L4, Hedrich Blessing (detail)