Sounding Boards / Sounding Boards Garden

This project was selected as an Merit winner in ARCHITECT's 2022 Architecture & Interiors Awards, Interior: Civic/Design for Purpose category.

"This project exemplifies what it means to resourcefully use design as an accessible mechanism for powerful storytelling and agency amidst chaos in our country." — Juror Imani Day, AIA

In the summer of 2020, after protests and citywide property damage prompted increase in plywood window coverings, Chicago artists transformed the plywood into powerful canvases calling for racial equality and social justice. Hoping to help facilitate the process, the Eastlake Studio contacted local business about supporting the movement while putting a wide call out to artists.

Eastlake Studio transformed these plywood artworks into “Sounding Boards” murals as the centerpiece of Sounding Boards Garden, a permanent installation that makes use of a vacant lot near North Lawndale’s Harmony Community Church in Chicago. The multi-purpose design intervention, which was part of the Chicago Architecture Biennial’s “The Available City” edition, uses the plywood murals as structural materials to create a semi-enclosed community space. Bricks paving the garden are engraved with names of victims of gun violence and addiction, and a mural-clad stage and built-in seating provide venues where visitors can amplify progressive voices. Instead of a vacant lot, the Sounding Boards Garden has become a platform for conversations, music, and performing arts, and as a space for quiet contemplation for the community.

PROJECT CREDITS
Project: Sounding Boards & Sounding Boards Garden, Harmony Community Church, Chicago
Client/Owner: Harmony Community Church / Pastor James L. Brooks
Architects: Eastlake Studio, Chicago
Design Team: Christina Brown - Founder, Sounding Boards; Designer/Principal, Eastlake Studio
Camille Hunter - Founder, Sounding Boards; Graphic Designer, Eastlake Studio
Tom Zurowski, AIA - Principal, Eastlake Studio
Kevin Kamien, AIA - Principal, Eastlake Studio
Peter Randolph, AIA - Architect, Director, Eastlake Studio
Brian Fleming, AIA - Architect, Director, Eastlake Studio
Emily Koss - Technical Designer, Eastlake Studio
Reyes Sanchez - Technical Designer, Eastlake Studio
Carla Arroyo - Technical Designer, Eastlake Studio
GC: Redmond Construction
Artists: New mural by Damon Lamar Reed. All 2020 Sounding Boards murals are listed at soundingboards.org
Pastor James L. Brooks, Harmony Community Church
Sue Foran, Harmony Community Cares
Construction Manager: Redmond
General Contractor: Redmond
Size in Square Feet: 8,000 square feet
Cost: Raised more than $55,000 in donations

Materials and Sources:
Adhesives/Coatings/Sealants: Aspen Commercial Paint (varnish & primer donation)
Lighting: Coming soon!
Masonry/Stone: Brick Markers USA (engraved memorial bricks)
Millwork: Standard Lumber, Inter Ocean Cabinet Company (stage construction volunteers)
Site/ Landscape Products: Midwest Fence, Chicago Botanic Garden (flower donation and planting)
Windows/Curtainwalls/Doors: sail/shade covering by Wayfair