River City I, Chicago, Ilinois, Plan

Goldberg’s plan for the River City triad towers redefined high-rise living with three semi-independent communities of 750 families, organized not by individual tower, but as horizontal layers of apartment floors centered on three two-story Community-Service levels, located every 18 floors. These levels would house the primary services used daily by residents, including small shops, meeting rooms, a library, a post office, a health center, a primary school, and a day care. In order to accommodate any and all family sizes, floor plans in the residential levels were designed to offer great flexibility, with studios as well as apartments as large as four bedrooms. Like Marina City, the tower buildings were designed with 10 structural petals per floor radiating out from the service core and containing an entrance, kitchen, living room, and a semicircular balcony, with two nonstructural bedroom units between each petal. Goldberg hoped this system would support a range of different income groups and allow for modification of the floor plans over time.