This amazing restoration of two apartment towers in Chicago by German-American architect Mies van der Rohe. Called 860-880 Lake Shore Drive residences, the 26-storey glass and steel towers were built between 1949 and 1951. Widely recognized as one of the 20th Century’s most iconic residential projects, 860-880 Lake Shore Drive consists of two 26-story rectangular condominium buildings surrounded by an irregular travertine plaza. The steel and glass towers are connected by a covered walkway.

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Photo credit: William Zbaren

Here’s some more information from Krueck & Sexton:
Architects Krueck & Sexton recently completed restoring one of legendary Modernist Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s most celebrated commissions: 860-880 Lake Shore Drive in downtown Chicago.

860-880, which was built between 1949 and 1951, consists of two 26-story, exposed steel and glass apartment towers set at right angles on an irregular travertine plaza. Based on ideas and theories Mies had been perfecting since his earliest days as an independent architect in 1920s Berlin, the buildings redefined highrise living for the post-war generation.

The original frosted glass in the lobby had been replaced in the early 1980s by a laminate system with a translucent interlayer that created an historically inaccurate aquamarine tint. The restoration included recoating the steel frame facade and cleaning the original aluminum windows. In addition, new sandblasted glass in the lobby recreated the soft, velvety glow of the original.

Finally, the plaza was rebuilt, a process that included replacing the original travertine slabs, designing a new drainage system and recreating the original plaza lighting scheme. Krueck & Sexton began work in the summer of 2007 and finished in December of 2009. The total cost of the project was $9 million.

860-880 is the third and largest Mies commission Krueck & Sexton, a firm more noted for its original work, has completed in recent years. The other two – all are in Chicago – are Crown Hall on the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology and the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago.