THE SINGLE BUILDING AS THE URBAN CATALYST
BY
MATIAS S. LA SERNA
COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE
Submitted in partial fulfillment of therequirements for the degree of
Master of Science in Architecturein the Graduate College of theIllinois Institute of Technology
Approved _________________________Adviser
Chicago, IllinoisMay 2012
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank everyone who supported me. I could not have done this
without the support of my parents and siblings who encouraged me every step of the way.
I would also like to thank my advisors, who pushed me to my limit.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................. iii
LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... vi
LIST OF SYMBOLS ...........................................................................................................x
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... xi
CHAPTER1. CURRENT STATE OF THE SITE .....................................................................1
1.1 Condition of Site ..............................................................................1 1.2 Breakdown of Urban Fabric ............................................................3 1.3 Site Context and Current Conditions ...............................................5 1.4 Site Documentation ..........................................................................6 1.5 Current Urban Zones and Uses ........................................................8
2. SITE HISTORY AND CITY RESPONSE ........................................................19
2.1 Failure of Public Housing ..............................................................21 2.2 Urban Response .............................................................................22 2.3 Urbanism and the Political .............................................................24
3. FILLING THE VOID .......................................................................................29
3.1 Defining Urbanism .........................................................................29 3.2 New Urban Ambition .....................................................................31 3.3 Interrupting the Rhythm of Single-Use Housing ...........................33
4. INVERTING THE STRATEGY .......................................................................37
4.1 The Sudden Architectural Interruption ..........................................37 4.2 Program Strategy ...........................................................................40 4.3 Claiming the Entire Site .................................................................41 4.4 Program and Organizational Strategy ............................................42 4.5 Complete Program .........................................................................45 4.6 Concept Model ...............................................................................46 4.7 Plans, Sections, Elevations, Model ................................................47
5. PROGRAM AS MICRO-URBANISM .............................................................58
v 5.1 Athletic Field as a Void ..................................................................58 5.2 Density Along State Street .............................................................59 5.3 Section and Program Relationships ...............................................60 5.4 Program Flexibility ........................................................................61 5.5 Architecture as Agent of Democracy .............................................61 5.6 Renderings .....................................................................................63
6. URBAN RESPONSE ........................................................................................72
6.1 Setting the Stage ............................................................................72 6.2 Urban Alteration .............................................................................73 6.3 Urban Chain of Events ...................................................................74 6.4 New Urban Identity ........................................................................75 6.5 Urban Possibilities .........................................................................77
7. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................81
8. FINAL BOARDS AND DRAWINGS ..............................................................83
BIBLIOGRAPHY ..............................................................................................................88
vi
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
1.1 Urban Context ..........................................................................................................2
1.2 Urban Void ...............................................................................................................4
1.3 Site Context ..............................................................................................................6
1.4 Documentation .........................................................................................................7
1.5 Residential Areas ...................................................................................................11
1.6 Business Areas .......................................................................................................12
1.7 Schools ...................................................................................................................13
1.8 Worship Areas ........................................................................................................14
1.9 Government and Civic Areas .................................................................................15
1.10 Public Transportation ...........................................................................................16
1.11 Urban Decay ........................................................................................................17
1.12 New Housing Developments ...............................................................................18
2.1 Robert Taylor Homes .............................................................................................20
2.2 Citys Response to Filling the Void ........................................................................23
2.2 Legends South Master Plan ...................................................................................24
3.1 Imagined vs. Reality ..............................................................................................30
3.2 Zones of Intensity ..................................................................................................32
3.3 Preliminary Study Models .....................................................................................35
3.4 Preliminary Study and Urban Context ...................................................................35
3.5 Focused Intention and Urban Fill ..........................................................................36
4.1 Urban Ambition .....................................................................................................39
vii
4.2 Program Strategy ...................................................................................................41
4.3 Filling the Site ........................................................................................................42
4.4 Organizational Strategy..........................................................................................44
4.5 Program ..................................................................................................................45
4.6 Concept Model .......................................................................................................46
4.7 Plan. Lower Level. 1/128:1 .................................................................................50
4.8 Plan. Ground Level. 1/128:1 ...............................................................................51
4.9 Plan. Second Level. 1/128:1................................................................................52
4.10 Plan. Third Level. 1/128:1 ................................................................................53
4.11 Plan. Fourth Level. 1/128:1 ...............................................................................54
4.12 Section A1. 1/128:1 ...........................................................................................55
4.13 Section A2. 1/128:1 ...........................................................................................55
4.14 Section B1. 1/128:1 ...........................................................................................55
4.15 South Elevation. 1/128:1 ...................................................................................56
4.16 North Elevation. 1/128:1 ...................................................................................56
4.17 East Elevation. 1/128:1 .....................................................................................56
4.18 West Elevation. 1/128:1 ....................................................................................56
4.19 Final Model ..........................................................................................................57
5.1 Athletic Field as Void .............................................................................................59
5.2 Density Along State Street .....................................................................................59
5.3 Section-Program Relationship Diagram ................................................................60
5.4 Program Flexibility ................................................................................................61
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5.5 Architecture as Agent of Democracy .....................................................................63
5.6 Interior Rendering A ..............................................................................................64
5.7 Interior Rendering B ..............................................................................................65
5.8 Interior Rendering C ..............................................................................................66
5.9 Interior Rendering D ..............................................................................................67
5.10 Interior Rendering E ............................................................................................68
5.11 Field Rendering A ................................................................................................69
5.12 Field Rendering B ................................................................................................70
5.13 Field Rendering C ................................................................................................71
6.1 Exterior Perspectives .............................................................................................73
6.2 Urban Alteration .....................................................................................................74
6.3 Urban Chain of Events ...........................................................................................75
6.4 New Urban Identity ................................................................................................76
6.5 Final Context Model A ...........................................................................................78
6.6 Final Context Model B...........................................................................................79
6.7 Final Context Model C...........................................................................................80
8.1 Thesis Abstract .......................................................................................................83
8.2 Site Analysis...........................................................................................................83
8.3 Urban Strategy .......................................................................................................84
8.4 Interior Strategy .....................................................................................................84
8.5 Field Strategy .........................................................................................................85
8.6 Structure, Elevations, Plans ...................................................................................85
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8.7 Plans .......................................................................................................................86
8.8 Sections ..................................................................................................................86
8.9 Perspective A ..........................................................................................................87
8.10 Perspective B .......................................................................................................87
xLIST OF SYMBOLS
Definition
Degree
Feet
Inches
North
Section Cut
Symbol
xi
ABSTRACT
An identified strip of land in Chicagos South Side has left an unmistakably
large void within the grid of the city. Current city plans call for single-use and low
density spaces to eventually fill the enormous void bounded by State Street to the east,
and Federal Street to the west. Resisting the current pattern of architectural and urban
segregation, this alternative proposes an ambitious plan to fill an entire block with a select
and diverse range of program to invigorate a depleted urban area while simultaneously
creating an identifiable architectural landmark. The sudden interruption of single-use
occupation reclaims the architectural potential of a site burdened by its troubled past and
serves as the catalyst to stimulate ambitious and diverse urban growth.
Necessarily occupying the entire site for the urban development of the city, the
building is faced with the challenge of expanding to fill the tremendous void imposed
by the grid with as few program members as possible, all the while preserving the
richness of urban overlaps otherwise afforded in tighter urban settings. The result is
a single building that is both mindful of the independent needs of its occupants while
simultaneously creating and maximizing shared spaces within the overlaps, generating
program opportunities and interactions not otherwise afforded in a system of architectural
fragmentation.
1CHAPTER 1
CURRENT STATE OF THE SITE
The specific location of the site in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago,
Illinois is bounded by 43rd Street to the north, 47th Street to the south, and in between
Federal Street to the west and State Street to the east. The larger urban context is
defined by the Illinois Institute of Technology and US Cellular Field to the north, and the
University of Chicago and the Museum of Industry to the southeast. A unique condition
to the site is a direct result of the sites history. After the destruction of the Robert Taylor
Homes, the absence of the notorious housing projects leaves an enormous footprint along
the Chicago South Side. The demolition of the housing developments created a unique
urban fallout that is analyzed below.
1.1 Current Condition of Site
The site is best described by its complete absence of any architectural presence.
The void is enormous, and there is an immediate need to fill a site that is occupied only
be a visible strip of nothingness. With the mass demolition of existing housing, the
area has exchanged an identity of notoriety for an identity of emptiness. The current
state of the site provides an opportunity to establish a new identity, and to invigorate a
neighborhood with an architectural solution that introduces new community stakeholders
that influence the surrounding neighborhood, as well as creating a chain of events that
spills south to fill the voided blocks to define the depleted zone. With the extreme level
of vacancy currently defining the area as shown in Figure 1.1, it becomes apparent that
bold action must be taken to positively invigorate the community.
2Figure 1.1 Urban Context
SiteIIT U. Chicago Museum of Industry1000 ft White Sox
31.2 Breakdown of Urban Fabric
As shown in Figure 1.2 on the following page, the tremendous void left by the
towers presents an immediate need to fill a barren site. The empty strip of land between
Federal Street and State Street begins at 43rd Street to the north all the way down to
Garfield Boulevard to the south, spanning an impressive seventeen blocks.
The giant void imposed on the seventeen block strip is also characterized by the
Chicago superblock. With the demolition of the Robert Taylor Homes, discussed in
greater detail in Chapter 2, an identifiable strip shares a unique relationship with the city
at large that is visually amplified by the enormity of lot sizes that march southward along
State Street, often comprising of lot sizes that could be broken up into four smaller blocks
in order to be re-integrated into the Chicago grid.
Likewise, yet another restriction imposed on the site is the placement of the Dan
Ryan Expressway. This multi-lane freeway is a main artery of the city that runs north
to south, effectively isolating the site from the neighborhoods on the western side of
Chicago, and is explained in further detail in Section 1.3.
The complete lack of architecture has become the defining feature of a territory
once occupied by the brutal presence of the massive towers. Now, with those towers
gone, the only reminder of their existence are the absurdly large lot sizes that yearn for
an ambitious and dense infusion of urbanism to reclaim an architectural language that
creates a new point-of-interest. A new node that can be plugged into the greater urban
fabric is a necessary step in the process of integrating a blighted neighborhood back into
the context of Chicago urbanism. With great attention paid to this highlighted zone, a
single building can act as a catalyst to stimulate new opportunities to fill the void.
4Figure 1.2 Urban Void
Urban VoidIIT U. Chicago Museum of Industry1000 ft White Sox
51.3 Site Context and Current Conditions
In Figure 1.3 on the following page, a closer look at the site gives us a better
understanding of the current conditions surrounding the site in question. The Dan Ryan
Expressway, a multi-lane interstate that serves as a major artery serving the city is shown
in purple. Running north to south, this river of infrastructure isolates the site from
western portions of the city, with access points limited to every fourth block, specifically
at 43rd Street and 47th street. Its enormous presence imposes itself as a barrier,
ominously separating the Bronzeville neighborhood from much of the city.
The site is sandwiched between Federal Street to the west and State Street to
the east. While State Street is the main avenue that links the site to the city, Federal
Street functions as a service road, as it is interrupted at points due to new and projected
construction. Just north of the site is a small park, and the greater area around the site
is mostly row houses and modest residential apartments. The site is also served by the
Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), with the El Red Line stop at 47th Street. The Green
Line stops at 43rd and 47th, connecting the site to the rest of the city.
Yet, the most glaring quality of the site is the vast emptiness that remains from
the heavy footprint of the housing projects that once occupied and dominated the
neighborhood. The vast empty acreage is a result of the desire to impose the Chicago
superblock onto the site, breaking up the implied fineness of a city grid in an attempt to
create Le Corbusien towers in the park. Now, with the towers gone, all that remains are
four blocks of uninterrupted emptiness stretching from 43rd Street to 47th Street; an echo
of failed social policy visible only by swaths of dead grass and the absence of numbered
streets bisecting the land.
61.4 Site Documentation
In Figure 1.4 on the following page, we can see panoramic and 360 views of
the site. The location of each view is denoted by the dashed circle on the aerial site
photo indicating the point of documentation. The site, mostly vacant, is surrounded by
intermittent buildings, some of which are boarded up and decayed, as well as the Zenos
Colman Elementary School to the south and McCorkle Elementary School to the east.
A gas station and an abandoned locksmith building round out the neighboring lots, and
Figure 1.3 Site Context
1000 ft
Federal Street43rd Street
Dan Ryan Expressway
State Street47th Street Michigan Avenue
Site Red Line Green Line
7a few new recent residential buildings have emerged along State Street to the north. A
more complete breakdown of the wider urban context is described in section 1.5.
Figure 1.4 Documentation
81.5 Current Urban Zones and Uses
A large majority of the buildings in the greater urban area surrounding the site are
residential. These dwellings mostly consist of modest row houses that line the blocks, as
well as a few apartment complexes, as shown in Figure 1.5 on page 11. The conditions of
the homes vary, and there are few dwellings immediately surrounding the site.
There are also a few businesses as well as industrial zones in the neighborhood.
The small businesses are mostly concentrated along 47th Street, as shown in Figure 1.6
on page 12. Likewise, a large industrial factory can be found along Federal Street just
south of the site.
In Figure 1.7 on page 13, a detailed diagram identifies the location of the
educational facilities in the surrounding neighborhood. The light green areas represent
the elementary schools, while the green and dark green areas represent local high schools
and post-secondary facilities, respectively. McCorkle Elementary school is immediately
to the east of the site, and the currently decommissioned Zenos Colman Elementary
School to the south. This building is currently serving as an administrative building for
Chicago Public Schools with the possibility of reintegration in the future. The area as
a whole is currently undergoing transformation, and some of the schools are being re-
programmed to accommodate anticipated growth.
Also consistent with the history of the Bronzeville neighborhood, there are a high
number of religious buildings surrounding the site. As shown in Figure 1.8 on page 14,
there are many houses of worship scattered evenly around the neighborhood, supporting a
variety of religions and denominations.
There are also a few buildings serving civic functions, and even fewer serving
9government responsibilities throughout the region, as shown in Figure 1.9 on page 15.
Amenities such as libraries, public gathering spaces are few and far between, isolating the
neighborhood.
As briefly mentioned in Section 1.2, the site has access to the CTA with an El
Red Line stop at 47th Street, as well as Green Line stops at 43rd and 47th. In addition to
the train stops, There are also bus stops at key corners surrounding the site on 43rd and
47th Street, as shown in Figure 1.10 on page 16.
The neighborhood is also the tragic victim of much urban decay. For the
purpose of this research, decay is defined as buildings that have been set for demolition,
abandoned, or characterized by multiple boarded windows and/or doors. As evidenced
by Figure 1.11 on page 17, the neighborhood has been seriously blighted. Many housing
developments toward the north of the site have been demolished, and likewise many
buildings along 43rd and 47th streets have been boarded and abandoned. Likewise, the
vast clearance of land that makes up the site and the strip of land to the south of the site is
the direct result of the demolished housing projects that once defined the neighborhood.
As a result of this blight, many new housing developments are beginning to
emerge as the city attempts to fill the tremendous void imposed. In Figure 1.12 on page
18, we see the pattern of small clusters of low-rise housing filling the void, as well as
proposed construction. As a part of the federal HOPE VI program, the development of
Legends South will attempt to refill the strip of land with modest and low-rise housing.
This is discussed in greater detail in Chapter 2.
However, in spite of the initiative to create more housing, a more thorough
redevelopment must be considered. According to the Mari Gallagher Research and
10
Consulting Group, the neighborhood in question is a designated food desert (et al. 2006,
19). The nearest supermarket is outside of the analysis boundary, making it exceptionally
difficult for any current or future residents to have access to fresh food. Likewise, while
there a number of schools and churches, there are no outdoor fields on the campuses of
these schools for organized sports within the community.
When the full context of the community is examined, it becomes apparent
that any new development should consider the economic, civic, cultural, and urban
requirements for an area that is severely lacking the societal infrastructure necessary for
prolonged development. By only addressing the needs of housing, the citys proposed
development, which is further discussed in Chapter 2, focuses heavily on a single issue
without fully addressing the systemic issues that will remain after the construction.
11
Figure 1.5 Residential Areas
Residential
12
Figure 1.6 Business Areas
Business
Industrial
13
Figure 1.7 Schools
Education - Primary
Education - Secondary
Education - Higher
14
Figure 1.8 Worship Areas
Worship
15
Figure 1.9 Government and Civic Areas
Civic
Government
16
Figure 1.10 Public Transportation
Train line
Train stop
Bus stop
17
Figure 1.11 Urban Decay
Decay
18
Figure 1.12 New Housing Developments
Housing Construction
Housing Projected
19
CHAPTER 2
SITE HISTORY AND CITY RESPONSE
After the post World War I boom, Chicago incurred a significant population
increase, which saw many new Chicago residents with a sudden need for housing.
During this time, the city grid of Chicago was altered in order to accommodate the
need for high density housing while maintaining racial segregation. The Dan Ryan
Expressway was constructed, physically separating the predominantly white Bridgeport
neighborhood from the predominantly black neighborhood of Bronzeville. Multiple
high-rise housing projects lined up the Bronzeville neighborhood, effectively eliminating
any opportunity for integrated housing within the city, and preserving the city within a
city moniker that would come to define the Chicago black-belt.
Obvious sociopolitical problems aside, the formation of the South Side
superblock, caused by the citys political desire to preserve racial segregation on the
citys South Side, radically disrupted the Chicago city grid and posed many architectural
and urban dilemmas as well. The introduction of the Dan Ryan Expressway, a necessary
piece of infrastructure for the cities growth and accessibility, ruthlessly isolated parts of
the South Side from the rest of the city. The construction of the Robert Taylor Homes,
shown in Figure 2.1, the nations largest housing project, covered large expanses of land
while leaving much green space around each individual building. While the buildings
themselves were high in density, they lacked the programmatic variety found in other
neighborhoods in Chicago. Likewise, the buildings contextually ignored the surrounding
neighborhood. This is compounded by the superblock lot sizes for the buildings. The
Robert Taylor Homes did little to preserve the street edge, and lacked the defensible
20
space necessary for a safe urban environment. The lack of programmatic diversity
coupled with an architectural solidarity demonstrates an urban irresponsibility. This,
along with public policy provided a disastrous mix that virtually ensured the failure of the
public housing that lined the South Side of Chicago.
Figure 2.1 Robert Taylor Homes (Anon 2010)
21
2.1 Failure of Public Housing
The failure of the Robert Taylor Homes dealt a blow to the influence of
architectural modernism. This led way to the political assumption that housing the poor
was simply not worth the effort or political capital. According to Michael Sorkin, in his
essay, The End(s) of Urban Design:
This outcome is yet another triumph for neoliberal economics, the now virtually unquestioned idea that the role of government is to assure prosperity at the top, an idea that has produced [...] the most obscene national income gap in history [...] Urban design has acted as an enabler in this precisely because of its ostensible divorce from the social engineering of planning, nominally expressed in its circumspect scales of intervention and re-sensitized approach to the physical aspects of urbanism. (2007, 9)
Sorkin raises a valid critique of the failure of urban designers to challenge
political opposition with thorough solutions that integrate users into the wider urban
context while providing an array of possibilities, diversity, and intensity of program.
By removing the process of design from the political sphere, modern architecture has
allowed itself to shoulder a disproportionate amount of blame on issues that emerged
largely from corrupted social policy. A criticism perhaps well earned due to the design
community defaulting on a social responsibility to create urban environments for the
benefit of all citizens. Sorkin continues to state that urban design becomes more focused
with real-estate prices (ibid) rather than social policy, further ensuring the inequality gaps
that eventually manifest themselves into the physical architecture that line the streets
of neoliberal cities across the country today. What results is a policy that pushes the
architecture, and an architecture that reinforces the policy under the assumption that the
free market knows best; all the while the social and fundamental needs of urban design
22
necessary for an inclusive and productive community remain largely ignored, and the
previous inhabitants are physically pushed to the edge of society.
2.2 Urban Response
A result of the designers exodus from the public sphere of urban planning was the
emergence of new actors who stepped in to fill the void in social policy, which led to the
reactionary condition that we currently see. Today, the citys response to replace the vast
strip of land once occupied by the Le Corbusien towers in the park is to introduce low-
rise and mixed-income communities. According to the Legends South plan, headed by
Michaels Organization, the new developments will:
Include nearly 2,400 new rental and home ownership units and will remove the former super block configuration imposed by the former Robert Taylor Homes. This extraordinary development will stretch for two miles through the very heart of Bronzeville; Legends South will extend from 39th Street south to 55th Street and from Federal Street east to Prairie Avenue (et al. 2010).
This project, funded by the federal HOPE VI program, identifies the enormous
strip of land left by the removal of the Robert Taylor Homes, and proposes to fill them
with modest housing, as demonstrated in Figure 2.2 on the next page. This single-use
solution does nothing to address the severe lack of urban necessities discussed in Section
1.5. It ignores the need for civic and public spaces as well as the need for a social
infrastructure that creates urban areas of intense interaction by the inhabitants. Rather,
it focuses solely on the issue of housing and fills the area by repeating itself for a vast
stretch of land. While it does create a mixed-income environment, it still maintains
the neighborhoods dependence on other areas of Chicago for needs that stretch beyond
the realm of housing alone, which will not be enough to transform the area. A much
23
more inclusive solution is still necessary to revitalize a completely depleted strip of the
Chicago grid.
Figure 2.2 Citys Response to Filling the Void
24
2.3 Urbanism and the Political
Additionally, the single-use strategy of housing defaults on a social responsibility
to adequately provide for all members of society. Sorkin continues his criticism of urban
design (or the lack thereof) by addressing the rise of New Urbanism:
The New Urbanism substitutes sprawl for slum as its polemical target, and its ideal subjects are members of the suburban upper middle class whose problem is a mismatch between existing economic privilege and inappropriate spatial organization...Whats missing is an idea of justice, a theory that addresses not simply the re-configuration of space but also the redistribution of wealth. The reduction of urbanism to a battle of styles is a formula for ignoring its most crucial issues. For example, there is no doubt that the neo-traditionalist row houses that have replaced the penitential public housing towers being demolished in so many American cities represent a far more livable alternative. But it is equally clear that the net effect of the HOPE VI program behind this transformation is the cruel displacement of 90% of the former population and that arguments about architecture obscure the larger political agendas at work. (2007, 16)
Figure 2.2 Legends South Master Plan (Anon 2010)
25
Sorkin articulates a crucial disconnect between the world of architecture and
the world of social policy. While the new development will surely provide more eyes
on the street, defensible spaces, and traditional Chicago architectural styles, it will
also fundamentally ignore the broader issues at play. It continues a tradition of solving
issues of poverty and lack of access by removing the poverty rather than empowering
it. It continues to link progressivism and liberalism as a political ethos with modern
architecture. The desire of New Urbanism to continue an architectural language of
traditionalism posits the idea that the failure of the Robert Taylor Homes was due to
modernism, and therefore liberal social policies by association.
Simply put, by ignoring the political power structure that oppresses, exploits,
and displaces, the introduction of New Urbanism as an architectural strategy looks to
the dollar value of real-estate prices as proof of the success of conservative social
policy. This, of course, ignores the reality on the ground, which belies its very success.
If success were to be measured instead by the inclusion of low-income earners within the
envelope of the city, then surely this strategy would be viewed as a resounding failure.
By displacing a large majority of low-income earners and once again physically pushing
them to the fringes of the city (or beyond the city completely), the failure to adequately
house and provide services and access to certain communities within the city accelerates
the transition of a liberal democracy into a society of neo-feudalism. And it is our tacit
approval, as urban designers, that makes us complicit in the act.
The end result of this proposal will not revitalize the community, it will cleanse
it. It will not empower a community, it will replace it. It will not address poverty, it
will remove it. It will not contain the footprint of the city, it will expand it. Once this
26
gentrification is complete, the displaced will be removed from the equation, and moved to
the suburbs.
This passing of the buck allows for other outside actors to prey upon these
members of society for financial gain. The mortgage bubble that led to the historic
financial collapse of 2008 was caused in large part by predatory lending practices to
low-income families and sustained by rampant evidence of fraud and illegal foreclosure
practices. (Paltrow 2011) The return of the robber baron, the CEOs of mortgage
companies such as Countrywide (Jenkins Jr. 2011) who intentionally and knowingly
sold toxic loans to sub-prime borrowers, while pocketing millions in the process is
yet another example of the failure to adequately accommodate every member of society,
and the departure of the urban designer in the field of policy. Since 2000, the number
of suburban poor has skyrocketed by 53% (Luhby 2012). And according to the Pew
Research Center, the median net worth of African American families fell 53% from
2005 to 2009, with their Hispanic minority counterparts faring even worse (Kochar et
al. 2012). Of course, these record setting trends are evident in the physical make-up of
our cities. Poverty is pushed to the fringes, and access to the spoils of urban activity is
limited while excess wealth is concentrated in the core.
Nowhere is this fact of wealth consolidation more evident than in this strip of
blighted land in the South Side of Chicago. As previously shown in Figure 1.4, the decay
of Bronzeville is visible in the absence of architecture, but also in the juxtaposition of the
site when compared to the robust and tourist friendly area found within the loop and more
established neighborhoods.
So if there is to be any new construction at this site, the discussion cannot simply
27
revolve around architectural styles. A much broader, politically motivated and socially
empathetic solution must arise. A deeper debate must be had where the ambition of
architecture must be matched by the compassion of the political class. A discussion
where the calls for traditionalism and historic vernacular cannot dominate the debate,
but rather a discussion where the ability of architecture to stimulate and invigorate urban
activity prevails. Designs for this site that focus on the singular issue of housing will
miss an opportunity to engage the disenfranchised, and it will fundamentally ignore the
acute level of access inequality that pervades not only this area, but many American cities
today.
New solutions should not only match the grand architectural vision of the CIAM
meetings, but also be aware of the current political inertia that prefers hegemony to
plurality. New solutions should push toward a less hierarchical concentration of power
in order to encourage spaces that are participatory and inherently democratic, where the
architecture is defined not by the form or elements of style, but by the activity that occurs
within. A new architectural order has the opportunity to condense activity and form a
power structure that is local, community driven, and cooperative.
A solution for this site provides an opportunity to not only address the conditions
that are unique to the South Side of Chicago, but to also establish an architectural
language that can be used in discussions across the country in neighborhoods facing
similar problems in regards to the lack of access and opportunity.
A new solution should balance the line between the prototype and the
specific. Large moves and ideas of integration, diversity of program and interaction,
intensification, and urban immersion can and should be replicated. While moves such as
28
pedestrian and vehicular access, orientation, store frontage, and other detailed issues are
unique to the specific conditions of the given site.
29
CHAPTER 3
FILLING THE VOID
After the failure of the Robert Taylor Homes, the immediate reaction was to
restore the original street grid, and to introduce a new mixed-income, low density housing
to replace the superblock as discussed in Chapter 2. While the Legends South proposal
will create more livable spaces, a full scale rejection of high density buildings should be
challenged. A vilification of the dense urban environment is collateral damage, and large
buildings with diverse programs and properly choreographed interactions should not
be lost in the wake of urban renewal. Redevelopment should take full advantage of an
opportunity to re-define, re-assess, and re-evaluate the shortcomings of social policy and
to give a collective identity to a struggling neighborhood.
3.1 Defining Urbanism
Urbanism, as a field, is a term that seems to take on new meaning by each
member who takes it upon himself or herself to define the discipline. Alex Krieger looks
to the definition of territory and describes urbanism as spheres of action (2006, 65)
where multiple activities occur in close proximity to one another. As a starting point,
this definition gives tremendous insight into the thinking of designers who wish to view
architecture as the social condenser that favors interaction and participation in favor of
privatization and seclusion.
Richard Sommer, however, takes an opportunity to define urbanism by critiquing
what the field has become. He argues that designers often render environments as
urban and full of activity rather than examining the broader urban social context to
30
discover what the public at large can bring to a site (2007). Without first documenting
the necessary sociological or empirical research, he argues, the images produced of
intense activity are the result of a non-reality based urbanism. A designer cannot simply
create images of exciting interactions and assume that those conditions will occur. It
is therefore necessary to understand what a site has, and what a site can sustain when
creating urban environments. A failure to understand these forces at play can disable
the architect and render him or her as a defeated dreamer, a designer who imagines the
impossible without first understanding the probable. It is also necessary to understand
not only what a building can do for a neighborhood, but also what a neighborhood can do
for a building. Without first critically examining the limits of access (both economically
and politically), imposed often by a larger social agenda, the ambition of design is often
reduced to the renderings of Pruitt-Igoe, where the vision of community and utopia are
contrasted bitterly to the reality of gross inequality and neglect, as shown in Figure 3.1
below.
Figure 3.1 Imagined vs. Reality (Newman 1996)
31
In addition to defining urbanism as realms of activity, other definitions address
broader implications at a political level. Margaret Crawford, in her essay Blurring
the Boundaries; Public Space and Private Life, demonstrates how the public at large
often annex private spaces in order to assemble. She claims that In everyday space,
differences between the domestic and the economic, the private and the public, and
the economic and the political are blurring (1999, 35). Of course, these spontaneous
bursts of public gathering are often disrupted, discouraged, or even declared illegal and
dangerous on account of preserving private property, effectively dismantling popular
support and squashing social discourse. Yet, it is this very spontaneous gathering of the
public that many urbanists wish to create; spaces where human involvement enhances,
intensifies, informs, and defines the experience of urban activity.
With so many different interpretations of what is and what is not urbanism,
perhaps the definition of urbanism is best defined by its malleability. A definition that is
so loosely constructed, that it requires a Supreme Court ruling of I know it when I see
it. Yet, it is this plastic definition that affords urbanism its greatest strength. It assures
that the field is a living discussion, absorbing the ideas of newcomers and changing to
meet the needs of its participants. It provides an opportunity for urbanism to be specific
to the site and context and to the desires of the city.
3.2 New Urban Ambition
It is therefore necessary to create spaces that encourage and assist zones of
participatory democracy; spaces where activism and discussion are allowed in order
to bring all members of society to a single area. Urbanism, in this instance, should
32
be measured not on the real-estate value, but by the cohesion of many interests into a
common form. It is the overlap of public participation with private interests. It is at
the point of this overlap where an alchemy occurs, where the activity is measured by its
intensity rather than the action, as shown in Figure 3.2, where the green overlap indicates
a point of increased activity.
A new urban order should seek to break down the hierarchical structure that
pervades our cities today where private institutions are given preeminence over civic
and public needs, and instead encourage what political and social theorist James Holston
Figure 3.2 Zones of Intensity
33
describes as spaces of insurgent citizenship, (1999) where the congregation of the
public challenges the conceit of property of and ownership. These spaces will then
encourage a sense of urban ownership, and ownership will be exhibited by occupying
the site. This in turn gives a depleted area a unique opportunity to reinvent itself by
establishing social independence so that it can create a new node of activity that plugs
itself into the wider Chicago context, paradoxically integrating the community back into
the city. By challenging the accepted hierarchical power structure that favors real-estate
value and property rights over necessary social functions, an ambitious design can create
a landmark that gives an architecturally barren sight a new identity, and an opportunity to
create a chain of events that fills the vast empty strip with a dense architectural language
that intensifies urban activity rather than avoiding the obligation.
3.3 Interrupting the Rhythm of Single-Use Housing
Strategically, the site demands massive occupation. The tremendous void
imposed on the Bronzeville neighborhood, as well as the city at large, leaves a large
and assuming feeling of despair and emptiness. It is an out-of-place and devastating
plot of nothing. The abandonment not only characterizes the immediate site, but also
radiates outward, affecting the surrounding blocks, with boarded and distressed buildings
occupying the neighboring plots.
The site simply requires something big, something ambitious, something daring,
something polemical, something extraordinary. It must stop the Chicago Housing
Authoritys desire to fill the area with modest housing and instead support an alternative
of intense architecture; an intense architecture that produces even more architecture.
34
Early attempts at filling the site highlight the difficulty of reconciling the need to
fill the massive void with the inevitable troubles reached when approaching the bigness
theorized by Rem Koolhaas. The result is a building that is so absurdly large, that it
becomes a struggle just to create enough program to fill the object. The brutal size of the
building approaches the critical mass that Koolhaas speaks about in his essay of Bigness,
where the building competes rather than cooperates with the context. It simply grabs too
much responsibility and reduces its own ability to influence its surroundings by absorbing
all of the architecture that could possibly exist within the neighborhood. A building with
this level of mass consolidates so much invented program that it becomes difficult to
integrate such an object into the larger landscape. As shown in Figures 3.3 and 3.4 on
the next page, a building beyond a certain scale becomes unmanageable, and as Koolhaas
understood, reaches a point where it does not add to the city, but rather it becomes the
city (1995).
It is this competition with the city, or rather, replacement of the city that rendered
these first attempts insufficient for the purpose of this exercise. While bigness is
certainly a worthy topic for research, the central premise for this thesis is the ability of a
single work of architecture to act as a catalyst for sharp urban renewal. If any solution
were to focus on a single building absorbing multiple blocks, then the ability for the
single building to act as the agent of change becomes drastically diminished, as it allows
for less opportunity for an urban response to radiate outward from the initial point of
impact. Initial solutions relied heavily on the desire to colonize the entire area, and
as shown on the following page, acquired a mass so large that it reached the point of
absurdity.
35
Figure 3.4 Preliminary Study and Urban Context
Figure 3.3 Preliminary Study Models
36
As a result, later attempts focus squarely on the ability of one building, with
limited program, to fill an entire block with the focus and clarity of program and overlaps
displayed in Figure 3.2. Later designs exhibit the express desire to preserve that richness
so that it may cascade outward and encourage more dense and diverse architecture for
later development. This is demonstrated in Figure 3.5 below, where the concentrated
effort of the lone building sets the foundation for more ambitious architecture to occupy
and reclaim the expansive plots of emptiness that remain without the single building itself
resorting to an absurd level of bigness.
Figure 3.5 Focused Intention and Urban Fill
37
CHAPTER 4
INVERTING THE STRATEGY
As previously discussed, the city of Chicago has taken the position of reclaiming
the entire site by introducing modest architecture that solely focuses on the need for
housing without addressing many of the neighborhood needs previously discussed
in Chapter 1. And, just north of the site, this process has already begun with many
row houses beginning to emerge. The alternative suggested in this thesis proposes an
interruption of this pattern so that a new order of architecture may follow.
4.1 The Sudden Architectural Interruption
In his essay, Whatever Happened to Urbanism?, Rem Koolhaas discusses the lack
of proper urban strategies and theorizes that:
If there is to be a new urbanism it will not be based on the twin fantasies of order and omnipotence; it will be the staging of uncertainty; it will no longer be concerned with the arrangement of more or less permanent objects but with the irrigation of territories with potential; it will no longer aim for stable configurations but for the creation of enabling fields that accommodate processes that refuse to be crystallized into definitive form; it will no longer be about meticulous definition, the imposition of limits, but about expanding notions, denying boundaries, not about separating and identifying entities, but about discovering unnameable hybrids; it will no longer be obsessed with the city but with the manipulation of infrastructure for endless intensifications and diversifications, shortcuts and redistributions the reinvention of psychological space. Since the urban is now pervasive, urbanism will never again be about the new, only about the more and the modified. It will not be about the civilized, but about underdevelopment (1995, 961-971).
This rejection of architectural segregation lays down the framework for a new
urban possibility. By shifting the discussion away from the topic of housing, and back
38
to the sphere of urban activity and staging, a new opportunity emerges to redefine the
neighborhood by infusing diverse program and creating amplified zones of interaction
and uncertainty. By addressing the implicit needs of a neighborhood defined by mass
vacancy and a lack of resources, a new ambitious architectural work can create a new
source of civic pride that unites, engages, and integrates into the city. This strategy will
be in sharp contrast to the citys desire to isolate program uses and functions without
seizing an opportunity to condense many functions into a site anxious for a chance to
redefine its identity.
By interrupting the pattern of single-use housing, the introduction of a large
object that stages uncertainty while demanding community interaction will dramatically
alter the contextual landscape of the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago. A large
building will create a sphere of influence that will radiate outward, encourage more dense
environments, and provide the impetus to create a system of activity that will logically
consume the remaining plots of land during further development.
It is this desire to create an identifiable strip of architecture that pushes the design
and influences the architecture of the buildings that follow. Figure 4.1 diagrams the
shift of context, and illustrates an opportunity to reclaim the ambitious experiment of
architectural size without succumbing to the ills of poor social policy. The dramatic
scope and size of new development is of similar grandness of the once towering objects
that lined the South Side of Chicago, yet the architecture is defined by the inverse of
the current strategy of single-use occupation and modesty. Instead, the interjection of a
bold new strip creates a new landmark, and gives a new definition to the area by creating
a node that gives new meaning to an area currently identified as being between other
39
Figure 4.1 Urban Ambition
40
areas rather than first having its own identity. This liberation of program provides an
opportunity to create mixed-use zones with aggressive architectural moves that create a
density and diversity to address multiple issues rather than one. This in turn gives the
area the chance to define itself rather than maintain a parasitic relationship to the rest of
the city where economic, civic, and social needs are dependent on outside sources.
4.2 Program Strategy
The architecture of this building should set the standard of mixed-use program in
order to serve as the epicenter of new urban development. In Figure 3.2, we discussed
the Zones of Intensity that emerge when adversarial uses are forced to interact with
one another. The resultant product is an area that enables collisions, creating a cocktail
of program where distinct uses are allowed, and the mixing of program ingredients create
unique flavors that assume the qualities of converging zones.
Yet, as we observed in Figures 3.3 and 3.4, the copious insertion of program to fill
the entire area assumes too much responsibility and yields an architecture that competes
rather than cooperates with its surroundings. So, in terms of the scale and objective
of the single building, the challenge that emerges is the ability to create a building that
fills a large site with a limited amount of program while still preserving the richness and
intimacy of the overlapping zones.
While earlier solutions relied heavily on inserting absurd amounts of program
in order to fill an enormous site, a more responsible solution should impose reasonable
limits of both program and lot size so as to allow for the development of the remaining
strip of land. Likewise, the challenge imposed by limiting the program presents the
41
challenge of filling an entire block while maintaining the intensity that emerges in tighter
urban settings. In Figure 4.2 below, the desire to preserve the street edge and claim the
entire block is at odds with actual scope of the single building.
4.3 Claiming the Entire Site
With Figure 4.2 firmly in mind, we understand the need to fill the entire site so
as to preserve the desired overlaps. In order to achieve this, program is pushed to the
Figure 4.2 Program Strategy
42
edge, with the greatest emphasis placed on the State Street to the east, as this is will be
the main point of entry for the building. By introducing a void, the building can follow
a courtyard typology, without resorting to the insertion of extra program. Likewise, the
void establishes the tightness desired in Figure 4.2 while still occupying the entire city
block.
4.4 Program and Organizational Strategy
With the fill strategy settled, the program of the building should limit itself by first
addressing the explicit needs of the Bronzeville community. While the citys proposal
focuses squarely on the needs of housing, this alternative submits the inverse, with
emphasis on providing zones of economic stability and communal spaces of interaction
and neighborhood involvement. By combining social needs and civic functions with
commercial interests, the new building condenses adversarial functions to create
new zones of integration. As shown in Figure 4.3, three major zones will represent
Figure 4.3 Filling the Site
commercial
commercial
commercialpublic-private
public-private
pub
lic-p
rivat
e
commercial
public-private
commercial
public-private
43
commercial interests and provide storefront space along State Street. By providing areas
for anchor tenants, the stability of the building is secured, allowing for the intermittent
space to be defined by the interior zone of public use, which acts as the adhesive that
binds different functions together.
Furthermore, civic zones overlap these commercial areas, allowing excess
occupation to influence the public area and define the use. Considering the presence of
many schools within the area as discussed in Chapter 1, the civic zones proposed include
a community library, art and dance studio spaces, a community garden, a gym, and an
athletic field with seating for 3,000 people. These civic functions not only compliment
the neighboring elementary, middle, and high schools, but also address a lack of resources
that many of these schools face. By giving many schools the access they currently lack,
not only does the new building become the cultural center of the neighborhood, but it also
guarantees optimum usage by making itself available to the widest possible audience.
Additionally, areas marked as public-private are designed as flexible office
spaces to the north and south of the building, with night classes and lecture spaces
above. These zones are designed for occupation for local businesses which allow for
local stakeholders to interact with the building, while simultaneously benefiting from the
run-off of neighboring zones and assisting the urban qualities presented in the building.
In Figure 4.4 we see the three dimensional representation of the ideas presented in the
previous diagram. The marquee tenants are given storefront space along State Street,
while local business interests flank the north and south of the building. These spaces are
rendered as blue blocks on the digital diagram below, and civic and social functions are
best represented as the purple and green zones that complete the objects form.
44
Figure 4.4 Organizational Strategy
45
4.5 Complete Program
In the Figure below, a complete breakdown of program uses are shown with
estimated areas:
Figure 4.5 Program
Program
CommercialMarquee Tenants 3 @ 125000 375000Flexible Office Space 12 @ 2000 24000
Recreational/AthleticBasketball 7500Weightroom/Gym/Flex 3500Lockers 3 @ 3000 9000
AcademicLibrary/Computer Lab 40000Lecture Hall 4500Night Classrooms 3 @ 2000 6000
Social/CulturalFlexible Gathering Space (Interior Urbanism) 40000Classroom 7500Music Studio 3500Dance Studio 7500Flexible Art Studios 4 @ 7500 30000Community Garden 10000
General/AdministrativeAdministrative Offices 2 @ 3000 6000Security 2 @ 1000 2000
Outdoor Space/Urban ExtensionFootball/Soccer Field + 3000 Seats 100000Parking/Drop off 100 spaces 60000Concessions/Gates 15000Fieldhouse Utilize Existing 4500Outdoor Garden Spaces Utilize Rooftop Space
ServiceMechanical/Electrical Estimated 4000Elevators Estimated 200Toilets Estimated 2000Storage Estimated 500Janitor Closets Estimated 400
Estimated Total 755500
* Service Spaces should be assumed to utilize existing space*Circulation assumed to be 20% of given program*Spaces should be combined where feasible
46
4.6 Concept Model
Figure 4.6 shows the conceptual overlapping of civic and cultural spaces
(modeled as black and white images) and their relationship to commercial areas.
Figure 4.6 Concept Model
47
4.7 Plans, Sections, Elevations, Model
The plans are illustrated in Figures 4.7 through 4.11, starting with the Lower
Level Plan. Figure 4.7 shows the Lower Level, which is 16 below grade, and has 100
parking spaces that directly serve the soccer and football field. There are also stairs
and elevator cars that puncture the parking structure and bring the user to the Ground
Level. Additionally, there are two locker rooms that serve the home and away teams
for the athletic field. Seating for the field provides 3,000 seats for an athletic field that is
designed to serve the many schools that surround the building that currently do not have
home fields.
In Figure 4.8, the Ground Level acts as an extension of the street, bringing
activity into the entrance, while having three distinct zones for marquee tenants,
which have been rendered as a shopping store, a coffee shop and sandwich shop, and a
restaurant. The interior street is discussed in greater detail in Chapter 5, where images
diagram and demonstrate the ability of the building to absorb multiple program activities.
Flexible office spaces flank the building to the north and south, and the ticket gates and
concessions area are on the west side of the building lead users to the seating area of the
field. There is also a lecture hall and a library that touch down at the western corners of
the building.
Figure 4.9 shows the Second Level, where the interaction between social and
commercial becomes more apparent. Some of the commercial buildings puncture this
level, but they are juxtaposed by the social zones that allow for classrooms, studios, a
gym, and flexible spaces for local businesses.
On the Third Level, as shown in Figure 4.10, we continue the trend of social
48
spaces gaining more prominence and occupying more space. The library is the most
prominent program member at this level, and studio spaces and the gym are present
toward State Street. Administrative offices line up the south of the building, as well as
outdoor spaces.
On the Fourth Level, there are outdoor reading spaces for the library, classrooms
and a community garden, and additional administrative offices, as shown in Figure 4.11.
Figures 4.12 and 4.13 show Sections A1 and A2, respectively. These two cuts
from east to west show the relationship between the athletic field, seating areas, and
the interior flexible space. Likewise, the compactness of the commercial and social
areas overlook the flexible space and have views to the athletic field as well. Section
B1, as shown in Figure 4.14, demonstrates the multi-use functions of the building, as
many different uses are juxtaposed by their proximity. The benefits of these sectional
relationships are discussed in greater detail in Chapter 5.
Additionally, Figures 4.15 through 4.18 represent the building elevations. Varying
channel glass colors stand in front of the social and civic zones, giving the humanist
quality of truth that Koolhaas discusses in his theory of bigness. By balancing the
desire to read the building from the exterior, this building congeals competing uses
in order to create a cohesive form. The channel glass material marches upward on the
South and North Elevations, and gives a varied facade along State Street, readily helping
the building create an identity. Likewise, storefront glass gives prominent views to the
commercial areas, allowing for distinct areas of branding and honesty to the activities
occurring within those zones. Open air areas are cladded with aluminum, maintaining
the outdoor quality while simultaneously maintaining the unified whole that defines the
49
building. A result is three distinct languages speaking fluently with one another in order
to create a building that houses multiple functions that work symbiotically to support
each other.
Figure 4.19 shows the final physical model of the building. While an honesty is
maintained to characterize each zones independence, it is the coming together of separate
functions that help to create a whole that becomes greater than the sum of its parts.
50
Figure 4.7 Plan. Lower Level. 1/128:1
8
8
Program Key:
1) Library 2) Office | Retail 3) Marquee Tenant 4) Lecture 5) Technical Classroom
6) Choir 7) Visual Arts 8) Gym | Lockers 9) Lounge | Rec 10) Studio
11) Dance 12) Administration 13) Classrooms 14) Community Garden 15) Field House
51
Figure 4.8 Plan. Ground Level. 1/128:1
2 21 2 2
3
3
3
3
2 2 24 2
52
Figure 4.9 Plan. Second Level. 1/128:1
5 5 5
3
6
7
3
8
32222
1
15
53
Figure 4.10 Plan Third Level. 1/128:1
1
8
9
10
12
11
54
Figure 4.11 Plan Fourth Level. 1/128:1
12
13
13
14
1
55
Figure 4.12 Section A1. 1/128:1
Figure 4.13 Section A2. 1/128:1
Figure 4.14 Section B1. 1/128:1
56
Figure 4.15 South Elevation. 1/128:1
Figure 4.16 North Elevation. 1/128:1
Figure 4.17 East Elevation. 1/128:1
Figure 4.18 West Elevation. 1/128:1
57
Figure 4.19 Final Model
58
CHAPTER 5
PROGRAM AS MICRO-URBANISM
The defining characteristic of the single building that acts as an urban catalyst
is the intensity of activity that occurs within its own envelope. By condensing many
different program uses and accentuating their proximity to one another, we can create
areas of tight interactions that act as the epicenter of new urban development. Yet, as
discussed in previous chapters, there is an inherent challenge in creating this tightness
without resorting to the insertion of copious amounts of program. By carefully adding
voids within the building, program can be pushed to the periphery and simultaneously
occupy the entire site with only a few program members.
5.1 Athletic Field as a Void
In Figure 3.2 we examined these zones of intensity when different uses share
the same areas. Likewise, in Chapter 4, we discussed the ability of space to become
amplified when multiple uses are infused into the given area. By using the athletic
field as a void within the envelope of the building, the remaining program uses are
forced to occupy a tighter area, thereby assuring more overlaps, as different functions
of the building are forced to cooperate and share communal spaces rather than retreat
to exclusive portions of the building. This level of interaction, in essence, becomes the
standard of urban activity within the building. The introduction of the athletic field as
the void can best be examined sectionally, as demonstrated in Figure 5.1. While the field
itself demands a large footprint, other programs such as the community garden, gym, and
weekend market space are confined to a tighter setting, which preserves the urban quality
59
of intensity desired to act as a catalyst that readily defines communities in more dense
portions of the city.
5.2 Density Along State Street
A tremendous benefit of the introduction of the athletic field is its ability to
reinforce State Street as the main corridor of the Bronzeville community. Not only does
the athletic field address the need for neighborhood schools to have a field, but it also
pushes the remaining program to the perimeter of the building envelope. As shown
below, the field assists the desire to preserve an urban tightness, with multiple adversarial
functions being forced to share meaningful adjacencies with one another, promoting
positive collisions by a diverse range of users who would otherwise have no incentive to
interact with one another in the traditional urban layout currently being proposed.
Figure 5.2 Density Along State Street
Figure 5.1 Athletic Field as Void
public-privatepublic-private
commercial commercialcommercialcommercial
public-private
public-privateentrance
parkingentrance
60
5.3 Section and Program Relationships
In Figure 5.3, the relationship between the program and the organizational
strategy discussed previously in Chapter 4 is juxtaposed with the sectional diagrams
discussed on the previous page to create the building sections.
Figure 5.3 Section-Program Relationship Diagram
public-privatepublic-private
commercial commercialcommercialcommercial
public-private
public-privateentrance
parkingentrance
61
5.4 Program Flexibility
A vital component to the success of the building is its ability to perform multiple
uses concurrently. Additionally, the ability to maximize its occupancy depends on the
desire to render major portions as public utilities. The athletic field, for example, can
optimize its usefulness by being both a soccer field and football field for local high
schools and club teams, as well as be converted into an ice rink during long Chicago
winters.
5.5 Architecture as Agent of Democracy
A defining characteristic of the flexibility of the interior space is the ability to
allow surrounding zones to influence the activity that occurs on the ground level. In
Margaret Crawfords essay, she argues that:
[T]he juxtapositions, combinations, and collisions of people, places, and activities [...] described create a new condition of social fluidity that begins to break down the separate, specialized, and hierarchical structures of everyday life[.] (1999, 34)
Figure 5.4 Flexibility
62
Crawfords observation in this essay is in the ability of community members to
annex private space and render them public by setting up locations to carry out everyday
needs, such as vending space and gathering space. These attempts are often disrupted
by property owners who do not wish to share their land with their neighbors. For this
project, the idea of communal and inherently democratic space is explored in order to
invigorate a community and establish public ownership over a building that also houses
private interests. In Figure 5.5 on the following page, we see how bringing public, street-
space inside of the envelope of the building allows for both flexible space, and the ability
for ownership to oscillate between the public and private realms as need be.
While the private businesses are given three major zones along State Street,
the area just behind it is unclaimed, and is given the ability to absorb run-off activity
for large events. The space is allowed to be defined by the influence of its immediate
surroundings, such as the athletic field, the marquee tenants, and the neighborhood at
large. The space can be filled with activity during a football game with spectators or
celebrations, and it can also be rented out for private events and serve as an extension of
the marquee tenants for large events. Likewise, this space can become a weekend market
space, where community members are given the opportunity to occupy the area and claim
it for vending purposes. And, as the ultimate symbol of democracy, the space can also be
a gathering space and hold political rallies and be a voting place.
The limits of occupation of this space are endless, and allow for an opportunity
to bring the public square into the envelope of a building, transforming a single building
into a participatory experience. By bringing this action inward, the building becomes
the center of urban and civic reformation, and acts as the catalyst that encourages the
63
chain of events to spill into the remaining plots of land. It is the juxtaposition of private
interests with community involvement that generates a space that can generate an urban
experience within the building so that it may later extend that energy outward for further
development.
5.6 Renderings
On the following pages, we see the final renderings that exhibit the flexibility of
the building that enable multiple activities to occur simultaneously, as well as the ability
of the interior space to be defined by the will of the users who wish to occupy the space
and program overflow.
Figure 5.5 Architecture as Agent of Democracy
64
Figure 5.6 Interior Rendering A
65
Figure 5.7 Interior Rendering B
66
Figure 5.8 Interior Rendering C
67
Figure 5.9 Interior Rendering D
68
Figure 5.10 Interior Rendering E
69
Figure 5.11 Field Rendering A
70
Figure 5.12 Field Rendering B
71
Figure 5.13 Field Rendering C
72
CHAPTER 6
URBAN RESPONSE
The intentional insertion of a large architectural mass demands an appropriate
response. This manifestation triggers a chain of events that creates a linear zone, which
responds to the architectural object with even more architecture. This initial object
sets the stage for more ambitious architecture, and generates an architectural inertia
that can claim the remaining strip of emptiness and occupy it with dense and diverse
environments that serve the public sphere.
6.1 Setting the Stage
The insertion of dense and mixed-use architecture breaks down the hierarchical
structure that currently defines our cities. It adds to the poly-centric ideals of urban
planning, and it returns public influence to the architecture of the city. This architectural
mass plugs into the grid of the city, and creates integration within the whole by first
establishing independence of the parts. By establishing economic, public, and social
independence, the Bronzeville neighborhood will have less incentive to rely on other
parts of the city in order to exist. And, paradoxically, this independence generates interest
for other city dwellers to visit and interact with the community, thereby integrating and
mixing many different users into a single area.
As was discussed in Chapter 5, the building itself acts as a microcosm of urban
activity, providing the framework for multiple activities to occur within the building
envelope. A desired result of this building then becomes the ability for that interior
activity to spill outward and influence its surroundings. As we see in the following
73
renderings, the buildings size interrupts the current landscape of the neighborhood, and
sets the stage for more ambitious development to claim the remaining empty lots.
6.2 Urban Alteration
In addition to the immediate surroundings of the building, we see the greater
context of empty lots that surround the building to the south. This alteration demands
Figure 6.1 Exterior Perspectives
74
bigger solutions than the modest housing efforts currently being proposed by the city.
6.3 Urban Chain of Events
As has been previously discussed, the strip of emptiness that consumes the
Figure 6.2 Urban Alteration
75
Bronzeville neighborhood is enormous. By creating the single building that enables more
aggressive construction, dense projects can follow the initial building, as diagrammed in
Figure 6.3 below.
6.4 New Urban Identity
With the urban catalyst already in place, the remaining plots have an
obligation to service the remaining needs of the community in order to contextually
respond appropriately in the radically altered landscape. In doing so, the Bronzeville
neighborhood will create a new identity. Instead of being a vast void set between other
points of interest, the new development will become a dense and linear articulation of
architectural ambition that aims to mix different uses while setting the framework for new
urban environments. Figure 6.4 demonstrates the new identity given to a once vacant
area.
Figure 6.3 Urban Chain of Events
76
Figure 6.4 New Urban Identity
Site White Sox IIT
U. Chicago Museum of Industry
1000 ft
Public - Private Commercial
77
6.4 Urban Possibilities
Small, single-use housing, as previously discussed, only satisfies the need for
housing, and does nothing to encourage the mixing of activities, nor does it create
diverse and democratic spaces. However, large objects that aim to mix and shuffle users
inherently redistribute users influence and demand cooperative ownership of space. With
the incentive to build bold architectural works already in place, the opportunities for
growth are limitless. With the context significantly altered, new buildings are liberated
from the constraints of replicating architectural codes and styles imposed by the proposed
housing solutions.
New construction will share the boldness interjected on the community and
respond positively to the single building to create urban areas of infinite intensity. In
the following pages, the proposed alternative suggests the possibility of architectural
typologies that can claim the remaining strip of land in order to re-introduce an
architectural vision for the Bronzeville neighborhood.
78
Figure 6.5 Final Context Model A
79
Figure 6.6 Final Context Model B
80
Figure 6.7 Final Context Model C
81
CHAPTER 7
CONCLUSION
The neighborhood of Bronzeville is undergoing transformation. With the
demolition of the notorious Robert Taylor Housing projects, the large strip of land is in
desperate need of radical new architecture to fully heal the wounds of failed social policy
as a means to reinvent itself.
The site, as it currently stands, is barren and empty. The shadow of the once
towering objects that soared over the region still remain despite the physical removal of
the buildings that once occupied the site. For seventeen blocks, there only remains the
plot of emptiness, with the fallout and destruction of the housing projects bleeding across
the super-blocks and affecting neighboring lots. Empty and abandoned buildings remain,
and there is little hope of repair.
Yet, the plan of action by the city of Chicago is to step away from the large, bold,
and ambitious architecture that once defined the area. Instead, in a state of panic, the
remedy proposed by the city is to insert modest, timid, and safe architectural solutions.
And while the solution may in fact be more livable, the opportunity to make the site
urban will be wasted in a moment of bashfulness.
This thesis project proposes the alternative. By addressing the civic and social
needs of the community, as well as providing for private interests, a new building can
disrupt the pattern of small and timid architecture and instead insert a building that
invigorates the neighborhood.
It instead provides opportunity, gives community members access to an
architectural landmark that serves the public sphere. Private interests are indeed
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considered, but the public square is inserted into the envelope of the building, giving
occupants the express ability to define the usage of architecture. Ownership is
intentionally plastic, allowing zones to absorb the overflow of activity from adjacent
areas.
The building fills an entire city block, inviting users inside while extending its
architectural influence to the remaining vacant lots that surround the building to the
south. By obstructing the construction of the single-use mentality that currently seeks to
dominate the site, the single building acts as the catalyst that provides an opportunity for
aggressive urbanism to cascade to the south and integrate the neighborhood back into the
wider urban context.
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CHAPTER 8
FINAL BOARDS AND DRAWINGS
Figure 8.1 Thesis Abstract
Figure 8.2 Site Analysis
an identified strip of land in chicagos southside has left an unmistakably large void within the grid of the city. current city plans call for single-use and low density spaces to eventually fill the enormous void bounded by state and federal streets to the east and west, respectively. resisting the pattern of architectural segregation, this alternative proposes an ambitious plan to fill an entire block between 44th and 45th streets with a select and diverse range of program to invigorate a depleted urban area while simultaneously creating an identifiable architectural landmark. necessarily occupying the entire site for the urban development of the city, the building is faced with the challenge of expanding to fill the tremendous void imposed by the grid with as few program members as possible, all the while preserving the richness of urban overlaps otherwise afforded in tighter urban settings. the result is a single building mindful of the independent needs of its occupants while simultaneously creating and maximizing shared spaces within the overlaps, generating program opportunities and interactions not possible with the status quo.
empty strip current plan urban ambition
public-privatepublic-private
commercial commercialcommercialcommercial
the.single.building.as.the.urban.catalyst.thesis.2012
Site White Sox IIT U. Chicago Museum of Industry1000 ft
residential businessindustrial
education - primaryeducation - secondaryeducation - higher
worship
civicgovernment
train linetrain stopbus stop
decayhousing constructionhousing projected
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Figure 8.3 Urban Strategy
Figure 8.4 Interior Strategy
Site White Sox IIT U. Chicago Museum of Industry1000 ft Public - Private Commercial
commercial
commercial
commercialpublic-private
public-private
pub
lic-p
rivat
e
commercial
public-private
commercial
public-private
public-privatepublic-private
commercial commercialcommercialcommercial
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Figure 8.5 Field Strategy
Figure 8.6 Structure, Elevations, Plans
program key:
1) library 2) office | retail 3) marquee tenant 4) lecture 5) technical classroom 6) choir 7) visual arts 8) gym | lockers 9) lounge | rec10) studio11) dance12) administration13) classrooms14) community garden15) field house
north elevation
south elevation
west elevation
east elevation
structural diagram
8
8
2 21 2 2
3
3
3
3
2 2 2 24
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Figure 8.7 Plans
Figure 8.8 Sections
5 5 5
3
6
7
3
8
32222
1
15
1
8
9
10
12
11
12
13
13
14
west section
north section A
north section B
master plan
public-privatepublic-private
commercial commercialcommercialcommercial
public-private
public-privateentrance
parkingentrance
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Figure 8.9 Perspective A
Figure 8.10 Perspective B
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anon. Legends South - Hansberry Square. IRM Interstate Realty Management