New heights: a cable car line proposal to offer new perspective to Chicago visitors

Marks Barfield Architects, the team behind the iconic London Eye, has unveiled plans, in collaboration with Davis Brody Bond, to construct a new sky-high attraction to stretch through the heart of North America's Windy City. The proposed Chicago Skyline is a new cable car line, which will run next to the city's river and through the downtown district.

Designed to withstand Chicago’s constantly varying and sometimes hostile weather conditions, the project's aerial gondolas would be engineered to have an ecologically light footprint and will be able to hold over 3000 people per hour. At the same time, its guests will be able to enjoy unprecedented views of the city’s iconic skyline.

Linking the Navy Pier, the Chicago Lakefront, and the Riverwalk, the line is also planned to conveniently transport Chicago's students to and from school during the off-peak seasons. The bespoke system, specifically designed for the city, is predicted to cost $250 million US dollars to construct, but is forecasted to pull in an impressive $300 million annually due to the influx of tourism and trade these ingenious pods will generate.

The project aims to attract a new wave of international tourists to Chicago. Should it get the go-ahead, the scheme hopes to become a new iconic project for the Windy City.

'The Chicago Skyline could do for Chicago what the London Eye has done for London, and become a very identifiable landmark within the city, driving tourism and prosperity,' says David Marks, director at Marks Barfield Architects. 'Gently fitting in and standing out at the same time, it will allow local people and visitors alike to appreciate the city and its world-class architecture from a completely new perspective.'