Project Description
The Chicago River’s 156 miles of riverbank was long home to the city’s major industries. With the loss of its manufacturing base, largely unutilized swaths of riverfront land are now available for reimagining as public green spaces that can rival the city’s famed lakefront. This plan, created for an exhibition at the Chicago Architecture Foundation, transforms the South Branch into a series of active and passive landscapes that tie adjacent neighborhoods to the river’s edge. Boldly geometric new artist residences and “maker spaces” support new residents and businesses within a topographically rich series of 21st century places that reconnect the city with its earliest economic engine.