SPECIAL RECOGNITION
DISTINGUISHED BUILDING
Chicago, Illinois
| Architect: | DLK Architecture Inc. |
| Client/Owner: | Chicago Department of Transportation |
| General Contractor: | F.H. Paschen Inc. |
| Consultants: | CTE Engineers Inc./MAI |
| Photographer: | Hedrich Blessing, Steve Hall |
A crumbling elevated roadway was to be replaced along a route that ranges from Grant Park to the Chicago River and serves institutions as diverse as the Grant Park museums and the discount retailers of Roosevelt Road. What resulted was a reconstruction that pays homage to the aesthetics of the 1909 Burnham Plan of Chicago while pushing beyond its civic boundaries to embrace residential and commercial activities.
The art program relates to the neighborhood institutions and includes castings of historic stone sculptures that are of local significance. Much of the roadway was lowered so that more of its streetscape was at grade and therefore closer to the stores and housing. Many of the key architectural elements, such as walls, doors, windows and balustrades, are formed of pre-cast concrete. This project addresses Chicago's urban scale, but does so with details that are specific to this unique neighborhood.
"The design is exuberant." -Jury Comment
