Chicago Architecture Foundation partners with seven renowned architects to re-imagine Chicago neighborhoods

In collaboration with renowned architect Stanley Tigerman and veteran urban planner William Martin, Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) opens the new temporary exhibition Design on the Edge: Chicago Architects Reimagine Neighborhoods September 21 in the atrium of the historic Santa Fe building on Michigan Ave.
Design on the Edge presents plans created by seven teams of nine Chicago-based architects to reimagine seven of the city’s neighborhoods to encourage street life, retail districts and dense housing around the existing “L” transit system.
From neighborhoods replacing streets and cars with pedestrian boulevards to a magnetic levitation monorail, the concepts in this exhibition aim to inspire Chicagoans to imagine a more connected, vibrant and livable city.
“Design on the Edge aligns with the mission of the Chicago Architecture Foundation by engaging Chicagoans, architects, and civic leaders, including the new mayoral administration, in reimagining their communities,” said CAF President and CEO Lynn Osmond. “CAF, a leading forum for public learning and engagement in dialogue about the built world, is thrilled to be the venue for these stimulating projects, which continue Chicago’s tradition of bold thinking.”
The architects who created Design on the Edge are: Stanley Tigerman, John Ronan, Jeanne Gang, Ross Wimer, Darryl Crosby, Doug Garofalo with Xavier Vendrell, Sarah Dunn, Martin Felsen, and Patricia Saldaña Natke. The exhibition builds on the 2005 project, Visionary Chicago Architecture, in which seven teams of two Chicago architects devised plans for seven areas in downtown Chicago. Just as Visionary Chicago Architecture was presented to Mayor Richard M. Daley, Design on the Edge will be presented to Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
“The charge to each of the seven teams was to envision what the locus of energy in outlying neighborhoods might become in a yet-to-be-determined future and what such energy might bring to the city as a whole,” said Tigerman. “This alternative visionary effort reimagines satellite communities within Chicago’s city limits were once dependant on city life and now have their own reason for being.”
The seven teams and the project sites assigned to them by Tigerman are:
John Ronan: Loyola Red Line stop/Rogers Park Jeanne Gang: Addison Red Line stop/Wrigleyville Doug Garofalo/Xavier Vendrell: Addison Brown Line stop/Roscoe Village Sarah Dunn/Martin Felsen: Western Blue Line stop/Near West Side Patricia Saldaña Natke: 18th Street Pink Line stop/Pilsen Ross Wimer: Midway Airport Orange Line stop/Southwest Side Darryl Crosby: 35th Street Green Line stop/Bronzeville
The Design on the Edge exhibition will surround the popular Chicago Model City in the atrium of the historic Santa Fe building, and will also include a companion catalogue for sale in the CAF Shop. The publication contains illustrations of each project and essays by art historian Paul Jaskot and co- organizers Tigerman and William Martin. BD+C