Opened in 1967, Marina City presented a high-profile, architecturally evocative alternative to the suburban ideal many wealthy Chicagoans pursued in the second half of the twentieth century. The five-building downtown complex, with its expressive paired apartment towers and whale’s mouth theater presented an idiosyncratic but compelling vision of vibrant metropolitan life in miniature, prefiguring the urban renaissance of the early twenty-first century.

In 1960 Chicago posted its first ever population loss, beginning four decades of population decline for the city, as many residents of means opted for houses in outlying suburbs. Fearing the consequences of this loss, and acknowledging that the Great Depression and World War II had stalled decades of public investment in the city, Mayor Richard Daley launched a multitude of major urban redevelopment projects in an effort to draw middle- and upper-middle-class taxpayers back to Chicago, including elevated highways and large new hospital and university campuses. In 1959 William Lane McFetridge, president of the powerful Building Service Employee’s International Union (BSEIU), built on this momentum to begin planning for a major urban residential project funded by union dues. There was precedent for unions to develop residential buildings for their own members, but publicly minded real estate financier Charles Swibel persuaded his friend McFetridge that a wiser long-term investment would be an upper-middle-class residential complex that could charge rents beyond what most union members could afford.

McFetridge commissioned Bertrand Goldberg, who had designed several earlier BSEIU projects, for what was preliminarily called Labor Center. A Chicagoan, Goldberg left Harvard to train under Mies van der Rohe at the Berlin Bauhaus in tumultuous 1932. After he completed additional engineering training at the Armour Institute, Goldberg apprenticed with several Chicago firms, including the office of George and Fred Keck, known for their experimental residential work. In 1937 Goldberg opened his own office and his early work earned him a reputation for problem solving, technical expertise, and careful space planning. A founding partner of Standard Houses Corporation, from 1937 until the mid-1950s Goldberg split his energies between his firm’s small modern residential and commercial commissions and the design and manufacturing of prefabricated housing. When McFetridge engaged his services, Goldberg’s small office was designing its largest work to date—Astor Tower, a thirty-story hotel on Chicago’s north side. The exaggerated height of the ground floor, raised above the street on pilotis, emphasized the structural core and transformed it into a design element. McFetridge’s project, however, represented a significant increase in scale for the firm.

The site McFetridge, Swibel, and Goldberg selected for the project was a three-acre rail yard occupying most of the block on the north bank of the Chicago River, between State and Dearborn streets. Surrounded by warehouses, adjacency to the river was the site’s major advantage, but it lacked residential amenities, and the development team determined those must be included in the project. A summer 1959 scheme for Labor Center, now rechristened Marina City, included two round, forty-story residential buildings and a round, ten-story office building. Goldberg’s office continued to develop the scheme, and by December the design largely resembled the final project.

Trained as a modernist, Goldberg found in reinforced concrete a rational yet expressive material that was utterly unlike the celebrated ferro-vitreous residential buildings Mies had designed at 860-880 Lake Shore Drive a decade earlier. A marina occupies the lowest level of the site, allowing seventy boats to dock directly beneath the building. Topped by a one-story restaurant and service level, the marina serves as a platform for the entire project. The paired and rounded towers, offset along the riverbank to maximize views, are each composed of a nineteen-story open parking ramp and a tall glazed transitional story, topped by forty stories of apartments. Each bay of the towers terminates in the hemicyclic balconies that have earned the building its “corncob towers” nickname. Along the parking ramp, spaces are arranged so that cars pull to the edge of the building making them visible from the exterior. Services for each building are clustered into the central shaft, which Goldberg conceptualized as the building’s essential core, accommodating all stairs, elevators, systems, and structure. While circulation and systems are contained within this core, the structural engineers, concerned about the stability of a fully cantilevered system, added columns at the perimeter. Perceptible at the base, at the transitional level, and extending several stories above the roof, each core anchors its tower. On the residential levels, a hall rings the core to produce a round floor plan; this is divided into individual units, studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments, with acutely angled walls. Bathrooms and kitchens are clustered toward the center; at the perimeter are floor-to-ceiling glazed walls with doors leading to the rounded balconies.

At the north end of the site, visually dividing the complex from the industrial district to the north, the commercial building has a two-story glazed lower story, topped by a two-story retail and leisure zone. Finished in concrete panels, this was designed to house shops, a bowling alley, and other amenities for use by Marina City’s residents and office workers. The ten-story office building stands astride the commercial structure, on spindly vaulted concrete legs. Nestled into the center of the complex, the saddle-shaped theater roof rests on low walls, largely glazed at the entry. Walls and roof are finished with standing-seam lead panels, and oversized round cast-concrete eaves mark the transition between roof and walls.

Construction at Marina City began at the end of 1960, and once foundations were completed, an innovative climbing crane allowed workers to complete one tower floor per day. The first tenants moved into the east tower in October 1962 and both buildings opened fully in early 1963. Office tenants occupied that building in late 1964, and the contractor finished construction of the theater in 1967.

Marina City commanded considerable attention when it opened. Goldberg’s office worked closely with the owners to market the commercial and residential leases, producing promotional materials and full-scale mock-ups of apartments and offices. These efforts proved successful and demand allowed the owners to raise rents for both apartments and offices. Goldberg’s paired towers became immediate and enduring Chicago icons, appearing in countless articles and ads, in the opening to CBS’s Bob Newhart Show (1972–1978), the movie The Hunter (1980), where a car famously plunges from the parking ramp into the Chicago River, and on the cover of Wilco’s album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002).

In the last decades, minor changes have done little to alter the appearance of Marina City. In 1977 the apartments were sold as condominiums; in 1994, the office tower was converted into a hotel and a restaurant was built on the site of the ice skating rink at the southeast corner of the complex. The scale, complexity, and audacity of the architecture at Marina City proved Goldberg’s skill and unique vision, and he went on to design such major complexes as Boston’s Affiliated Hospitals (1964–1971), the Chicago Housing Authority’s Raymond Hilliard Homes (1963–1966) and Chicago’s Wilbur Wright College (1986–1992). From cylinders to clover leafs to pyramids, Goldberg’s designs defy the street grid and enclose complex programs and technical requirements in dramatic concrete forms. Among Chicago’s most significant late-twentieth-century architects, Goldberg pushed the Miesian modernism in the direction of a more personal and gestural architectural expression.

Can Gears of War 3 rise to finish the trilogy in style?

Waterfront is a major intermodal public transportation facility and the main transit terminus in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is located on West Cordova Street in Downtown Vancouver, between Granville and Seymour Street. The station is also accessible via two other street-level entrances, one on Howe Street to the west for direct access to the Expo Line and another on Granville Street to the south for direct access to the Canada Line.

The station is within walking distance of Vancouver’s historical Gastown district, Canada Place, Convention & Exhibition Centre, Harbour Centre, Sinclair Centre, and the Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre float plane terminal. A heliport operated by Helijet, along with the downtown campuses for Simon Fraser University and the British Columbia Institute of Technology, are also located within the vicinity of the station.

Waterfront station was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and opened on August 1, 1914. It was the Pacific terminus for the CPR’s transcontinental passenger trains to Montreal, Quebec and Toronto, Ontario. The current station is the third CPR station. The previous CPR station was located one block west, at the foot of Granville, and unlike the current classical-styled Waterfront station was built in “railway gothic” like the CPR’s many railway hotels.

In 1978, when Via Rail took over the passenger operations of the CPR and the Canadian National Railway, it continued using both railways’ stations in Vancouver, but a year later, Via consolidated its Vancouver operations at Pacific Central Station, the CN station near False Creek, and ceased using the CPR station. The last scheduled Via passenger train to use Waterfront station departed on October 27, 1979.

Waterfront station’s transformation into a public intermodal transit facility began in 1977. That year, the SeaBus began operating out of a purpose-built floating pier that was connected to the main terminal building via an overhead walkway above the CPR tracks. The CPR’s passenger platform and some of its tracks were torn up in the early 1980s to make way for the guideway of the original SkyTrain line (Expo Line), which opened on December 11, 1985. During Expo 86, SkyTrain operated special shuttle trains between Waterfront station and Stadium–Chinatown station (then named Stadium station), connecting the Canadian Pavilion at Canada Place to the main Expo site along False Creek.

A private ferry company, Royal SeaLink Express, ran passenger ferries from a new dock on the west side of the SeaBus terminal to Victoria and Nanaimo in the early 1990s, but ultimately folded. In 2003, HarbourLynx began operating out of Royal Sealink’s old facility at the SeaBus terminal. In 2006, following major engine problems with their only vessel, they folded as well.

In 1995, platforms were built adjacent to the SkyTrain station for the West Coast Express, which uses the existing CPR tracks. The platforms for the West Coast Express were built in the same location as the old CPR platforms.

In 2002, Millennium Line trains began to share tracks with the Expo Line at Waterfront station. The lines continued to share tracks until late 2016, when an Expo Line branch to Production Way–University station was created in replacement of the Millennium Line service between VCC–Clark and Waterfront stations.

In 2009, the Canada Line opened with separate platforms which are accessible via the main station building, but require leaving the fare paid zone when transferring between other modes. Waterfront station serves as a common terminus point for both the Expo Line and the Canada Line.

Waterfront station was one of the first stations to receive TransLink’s “T” signage, denoting a transit station. This signage was originally installed in the downtown core of Vancouver to help visitors during the 2010 Olympics, as it made transit hubs easier to identify.

In 2018, TransLink announced that Waterfront’s Canada Line platforms, as well as two other stations on the line located within downtown Vancouver, would receive an accessibility upgrade which includes additional escalators, as most Canada Line stations were built with only up escalators initially. Construction is expected to begin in early 2019.

Waterfront’s main station building was designed in a neoclassical style, with a symmetrical red-brick facade dominated by a row of smooth, white Ionic order columns. The Ionic columns are repeated in the grand interior hall, flanking the perimeter of the space. The main hall features two large clocks facing each other high on the east and west walls. Paintings depicting various scenic Canadian landscapes, completed in 1916 by Adelaide Langford, line the walls above the columns. The Montreal architecture firm Barott, Blackader and Webster was responsible for designing the main station building.

When he wasn’t boldly going where no man had gone before, William Shatner was also (amongst other things) playing hard ball with the bad guys as veteran cop, T.J. Hooker. First airing in the US in March 1982, and running for 5 seasons, this was arguably one of the best action police dramas to cross the pond, and was essential evening viewing for 80s kids all over the UK. It came with a swathe of other essential viewing, such as The A Team, Airwolf, and CHiPS. Amusing, action packed, often gritty, sometimes silly, and shockingly underrated. That just about sums it up.

And so to the storyline. When Detective T.J. Hooker’s partner is tragically killed whilst trying to stop a bank robbery, Hooker realises the only way he can really make a difference and rid the streets of lowlife criminals is to demote himself to uniformed beat cop. As a Vietnam veteran and with 15 years in the force under his belt, Hooker is one tough cookie. Paired with wise cracking rookie partner, Vince Romano played by Adrian Zmed (Grease 2), bad guys start falling thick and fast.

What works about this series is the camaraderie between the characters, and that’s one of the things I love about it. Hooker, angry and determined, partnered with hot headed Romano, is an unlikely combination that develops into a strong partnership of friendship and trust. A clever extra dimension came in the form of Sgt Jim Corrigan, played by the late James Darren (Time Tunnel and much loved Vic Fontaine of Deep Space 9 story Holosuite fame), and Stacy Sheridan (Heather Locklear – Dynasty), adding another layer of interest to the series rather than focusing solely on Shatner’s character.

It’s worth noting that James Darren wasn’t the only Star Trek link in this action packed series. Hooker’s boss, Captain Sheridan, was played by Richard Herd (Admiral Paris – Star Trek: Voyager). The series also boasted appearances from Leonard Nimoy (Spock), Judson Scott (Wrath of Khan, Next Generation, and Voyager), Michael Cavanaugh and Thalmus Rasulala (Next Generation), and George Murdoch – who not only appeared in Star Trek – The Final Frontier, but is also one of only a few actors to have appeared in Star Trek and Doctor Who. The series also aired during the peak of Star Trek’s re-emergence, around the Wrath of Khan/Search for Spock era – which no doubt helped boost viewing figures.

To me, TJ Hooker managed to take everything good about 80s action TV and roll it into one sometimes gritty, sometimes goofy hour-long cop show. The hard-faced cop meets wild card rookie works so well for this series, and they even threw in some romance for good measure, because why not. Far more accessible than Hill Street Blues, it was a shame that the final season was given a darker plot and later slot, which led to Adrian Zmed (Romano) leaving the series and scuppering the dynamic. Unfortunately, this all went a long way towards the show meeting its demise in 1986.

To sum up, it’s a really good watch, and if you like cop shows, car chases, the 80s, William Shatner’s acting, or you just fancy something you might not have seen before, T.J. Hooker is streaming now (at the time of writing) on Prime Video.

Two Russian colonels are reported to have fallen out of windows in the space of two days, adding to a growing list of high-ranking officials who have died in mysterious circumstances since Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine began.

Newsweek has contacted Russia’s foreign ministry for comment by email.

Since Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, there have been a series of mysterious deaths involving prominent Russian figures, including tycoons, businessmen and oil executives. Many of them died after falling out of windows.

Artur Pryakhin, 56, the head of a regional branch of Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) in the Republic of Karelia, died after falling from a fifth floor window of an office building at around noon on February 4.

Local authorities said he left a suicide note in his office in which he apologized to his wife, asked his loved ones for forgiveness, and urged them not to blame anyone for his death.

Russia’s Investigative Committee confirmed his identity and ruled his death a suicide. Law enforcement officials are investigating the circumstances of his demise.

Pryakhin was a police colonel earlier in his career and was appointed regional FAS head in February 2014, Russian newspaper Izvestia reported. He also served as the head of the Economic Crimes Department of the Ministry for Internal Affairs of the Republic of Karelia from 2010 to 2011.

He is survived by his wife and son.

On the same day, in Moscow, the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee Forensic Center plunged from a fourth floor window at his office building. Colonel Alexey Zubkov survived and was found conscious after avoiding serious injury, reported local news outlet MK.ru.

He claimed he went to the bathroom—the room from which he fell—but had no recollection of falling from the window. Zubkov was hospitalized, and an investigation into the incident is ongoing.

“Colleagues suggested that Alexey Zubkov might have been stressed the day before a final board meeting; his superiors (First Deputy Director of the SEC Alexander Sobolev and General of the Main Directorate of the Fire Department Anatoly Sazonov) were at the scene of the incident,” said VChK-OGPU, a news outlet that purports to have inside information from Russian security forces.

And on Thursday, 58-year-old Russian musician and radio host Vadim Stroykin died after he fell out of a window in St. Petersburg as his apartment was being searched by authorities, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported. The search was reportedly conducted as part of a criminal case.

There have been a spate of incidents in recent years involving prominent officials falling from windows.

Ravil Maganov, the chairman of Russian oil giant Lukoil, the country’s second-largest oil producer, was found dead on September 1, 2022, after falling from a hospital window in Moscow. The circumstances surrounding the 67-year-old’s death remain unexplained. He had worked at Lukoil since 1993.

A few months later, on December 25, 2022, Pavel Antov, a Russian politician who had criticized Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, was found dead after a fall from a window in India.

Antov, who was a member of Putin’s United Russia party and a wealthy sausage tycoon, was found lying in a pool of blood outside the Hotel Sai International in the district of Rayagada, which is in the state of Odisha.

In June 2022, he reportedly reacted to a Russian missile attack on a residential block in the Shevchenkivskyi district of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, by writing in a WhatsApp message saying it was “extremely difficult to call all this anything but terror,” the BBC reported.

The message was then deleted, and Antov wrote on social media that he supported Putin, was a “patriot of my country” and backed the war. He said the message was a misunderstanding and written by someone whose opinion on the “special military operation in Ukraine” he strongly disagreed with.

The press service of Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) in the Republic of Karelia said: “The circumstances [of Pryakhin’s death] are being clarified, we offer our condolences.”

Investigations are underway into both incidents.