Mile-high Illinois - Currell.net

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In 1956 architect Frank Lloyd Wright, nearing the end of a long and brilliant career, unveiled one of the most audacious designs in modern architecture: a mile-high office tower known as the Illinois. At over five thousand feet this would have been by far the tallest structure ever built.

The building was in appearance a slender, multi-sided spike, with the outer surfaces to be sheathed in gold-tinted metal. It would have had 528 floors and accommodated 100,000 people with parking for 15,000 cars.

The Illinois was of course never built, and critics have pointed out practical difficulties with Wright's design. Nevertheless it remains a powerful work of imagination, and over fifty years later no tower in the world approaches the height of the Illinois.

In 1956 architect Frank Lloyd Wright, nearing the end of a long and brilliant career, unveiled one of the most audacious designs in modern architecture: a mile-high office tower known as the Illinois. At over five thousand feet this would have been by far the tallest structure ever built.

The building was in appearance a slender, multi-sided spike, with the outer surfaces to be sheathed in gold-tinted metal. It would have had 528 floors and accommodated 100,000 people with parking for 15,000 cars.

The Illinois was of course never built, and critics have pointed out practical difficulties with Wright's design. Nevertheless it remains a powerful work of imagination, and over fifty years later no tower in the world approaches the height of the Illinois.

Information on the Illinois from other sites:

The Illinois - An article from Wikipedia discussing the technical feasibility of the building.

SkyscraperModels.us - A great site featuring free card models of skyscrapers in 1:1700 scale.

Information on the Illinois from other sites:

The Illinois - An article from Wikipedia discussing the technical feasibility of the building.

SkyscraperModels.us - A great site featuring free card models of skyscrapers in 1:1700 scale.

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Mile-high Illinois

Illustration of the Illinois

Illinois and other buildings

Photo of Illinois model

Skill Level 3/5
Previous experience recommended.

This model builds into a 1:1700 scale replica of the Illinois. The model stands about 40 inches (1 metre) tall.

You will need a colour printer capable of handling card or cover stock to print the parts sheets. 67 lb cover stock (approx 8.5 thousandths of an inch or 0.2 mm thick) is recommended.

See photos of the finished model.

Brief history and related links.

The model files

illinois_instr.pdf - 213 KiB - This document contains the instructions only (5 pages).

illinois_parts.pdf - 2.11 MiB - This document contains the parts layout (10 pages).

The parts and instructions are in Adobe PDF format. Your web browser may allow you to read and print these files, otherwise you'll need a PDF reader such as Adobe's Acrobat Reader or Foxit Reader.

Last updated on 5 February 2021
Copyright 2006-2021 by Ralph Currell.