MOSCOW GAINING HEIGHT

 

D A V I D G E N C, A I A

S E N I O R P R O J E C T D E S I G N E R

 

At DeStefano and Partners, David Genc has recently focused on large scale commercial

developments. His current projects include a mixed use 100 story tower in Chicago for the

Waldorf=Astoria, and a highly sustainable 40 story office building project also located in Chicago.

In recent years he worked on the design of two high-rise residential towers located in the new

Lake Shore East community being developed by Magellan Development Group and Near North

Properties. DeStefano and Partners’ scope of work included refinement of the master plan –

massing, programming and entry locations – for seven buildings along Wacker Drive and eight

buildings surrounding Harbor Court, and the building massing and exterior wall design for two

residential high-rise residential towers, in collaboration with Loewenberg + Associates.

Commercial experience includes a new, 40-story office tower at 1 S. Dearborn St. in downtown

Chicago, and ABN AMRO Plaza, a recently completed, high-technology corporate headquarters

and banking operations center in the West Loop. He also worked on the Executive Architect

team led by DeStefano and Partners, which was responsible for the design component of the new

Terminal 6 at O’Hare International Airport, a billion dollar design-build civic initiative.

P R O F E S S I O N A L E X P E R I E N C E

DeStefano and Partners, Ltd., 2001 to present, Senior Associate

Aria Group Architects, Inc., 1998 to 2001

Levin Associates Architects, 1997 to 1998

P R O F E S S I O N A L A C C R E D I T A T I O N S A N D A S S O C I A T I O N S

Registered Architect, State of Illinois

AIA – The American Institute of Architects

AIA Chicago – Young Architects PIA Co-Chair/Chair, 2001/2002

Chicago Academy for the Arts Benefit Board

Rebuilding Together, IL 2002-present, Co-House Captain

Urban Land Institute, Young Leaders

E D U C A T I O N

Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1997

S E L E C T E D P R O J E C T S

The Regatta, Lakeshore East, Chicago

The Chandler, Lakeshore East, Chicago

One South Dearborn, Chicago

ABN Amro Plaza, Chicago

Waldorf=Astoria Hotel and Residential Tower, Chicago

601 West Monroe, Chicago

625 W Monroe, Chicago

Technology Education Center, College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn

 

DeStefano and Partners

F I R M S T A T E M E N T

 

Established in 1988, DeStefano and Partners, Ltd. is an award-winning, full service

Architecture, Planning and Interior Design firm with substantial depth in design, technology and

management. Our principals and professional staff bring to each project a heritage of quality

design, craftsmanship, detailing and careful documentation accrued through the design and

construction of hundreds of buildings throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

With 12 principals and a staff of over 120 professionals in Chicago and Los Angeles, the practice

serves developers, corporations, universities, school districts, institutions, civic and commercial

clients to meet varied design, planning, feasibility and audit needs in new construction and

renovation. Projects range from interior tenant improvements to fast track, large-scale multi-use

complexes and designs for new communities. In the past decade D+P has designed more than

35,000 residential units for multi-family housing developments in the U.S. and abroad and over

35,000,000 square feet of new office buildings.

Respect for context and the broader public realm is the foundation of our practice. The creation

of a unique sense of place is a compelling design factor that guides us in shaping the physical

and conceptual character of a space. Inspired by the cultural, geographic and organizational

diversity of our clientele, our mission is to realize environments that are conducive to daily living,

supportive of commercial enterprise and engaging to the human spirit.

As professionals we are entrusted with preserving the design integrity for each project, regardless

of size, history or function. While embracing architecture as an art form, we seek to resolve the

challenges of function, form, economy and time. D+P views the design process as an opportunity

to satisfy our client’s program and strategic needs within a social and cultural context that is both

specific to that client and relevant to the broader realm of contemporary life. Collaborating with

our clients and all team members, our designs rely upon fundamental problem-solving experience

and the humanistic application of contemporary technology to achieve functional, aesthetic and

sustainable design goals.

 

CASE STUDY: WALDORF=ASTORIA HOTEL AND RESIDENTIAL TOWER, Chicago

Tall towers as city icons and good neighbors: reaching into the sky, and underground to give open

space back to community

 

Chicago is a city of skyscrapers. An early pioneer and promoter of super tall structures, Chicago

skyscraper culture in recent decades had become mostly dormant, due to a mass exodus of people and

business’s to suburbia. Today, while that exodus has finally reversed, it’s not corporations that are

responsible for the majority of new tall towers seen across the city….it’s people, looking for a place to live.

The peek of this renewed enthusiasm for the urban environment can be seen along the Chicago River

where three residential and residential/hotel towers are now under construction that when complete, will

range from 1000’ to a staggering 2000’ in height. The last time a residential tower soared past 1000’ in

Chicago was back in 1969, The John Hancock Building. It’s in this towers example of structural thrift that

the Waldorf Astoria follows.

The Waldorf=Astoria Hotel and Residential Tower - Chicago is a 107 story mixed-use tower developed by

The Fordham Company in partnership with The Prime Group and The Waldorf=Astoria. The 1,436,600

sf, 1265’ tower will house luxury condominiums and a 5 star hotel which will include a day spa and

banquet facilities.

The project is located a few blocks east of Michigan Avenue and steps away from the Chicago River in

the thriving Chicago community known as Streeterville. The existing surface lot consists of the southern

two thirds of a city block bounded by Illinois Street, North Park Drive, East Water Street, and New Street.

The sites neighbors include the Sheraton Hotel to the south, office buildings to the west, and a pair of

midrise residential buildings to the east. The northern portion of the block has a 50 story luxury

apartment rental building that’s under construction. The southern edge of the block abuts a raised

roadway that acts as grade resulting in a grade change of 27’ along North Park Drive from Illinois Street

to Upper East Water Street.