We’re excited to see progress on the new placemaking project at the Lincoln | Wellington | Southport intersection. What about you?
Urban Planning
Think Spring: It’s Time to Get Started in the Garden
Little green shoots are coming up all over the place, hinting that spring is just around the corner. It’s time to start thinking about your green space and how to fill it with easy edibles or biota helping native plantings!
Slim Streets with Sneckdowns: We Could Reduce Road Infrastructure Wherever the Snow Sticks
Sneckdown spotting shows us areas of roadway both small and large that no one is driving on. Asphalt comes at a cost, so we should reclaim that public space. Let us tell you why.
Coming Soon: New Plaza and Entrance Canopy for Park Lincoln by Reside
We’re so pleased to introduce our latest project: the updated plaza design and new entrance canopy for the Park Lincoln apartments on Clark Street by Reside.
Chicago Building Types: the Skyscraper
Chicago is a city with an iconic skyline. What makes a skyscraper work? Where did they come from and why are they central to Chicago history.
Design for Darkness: How Outdoor Lights Affect the Sky
Seeking starlight from Chicago, home of the orange glow, is hard. Here’s how you can help protect the night sky with your lighting choices.
Buildings and Climate Change: Good Design Can Help
We don’t want to belabor the often-depressing facts on climate change any more than necessary … but it does seem necessary to acknowledge the most recent report from the International Panel on Climate Change. Whether or not you’ve read anything about their findings you should be able to pass this pop quiz. Look, we know no […]
Resilient Responses to Storm Damage: What Chicago Can Learn From New York's Big U Project
This weekend’s damage to the Lakefront Trail only underlines the need for a more environmentally resilient plan to deal with our waterfront. New York is handling this better with their “Big U” coastal infrastructure project. What can we learn from their designs? And why aren’t we on top of this already? In case the nippy weather, obsessive […]
Spooky Architecture: Cemeteries to Welcome the Living
Cemeteries have a compelling history, transforming from unsanitary resting places to picturesque parks, before settling into plain, landscaped lawns, losing not a few bones along the way in the move. Knowing this, we may never look at those subterranean skeleton decorations in quite in the same way again. Our Tuesday post “Spooky Architecture: Cities […]
A Softer Alternative to Chicago’s Concrete Shoreline
Chicago has just proposed a new 6 acre extension to the shoreline park at Fullerton Avenue complete with new concrete revetment. Having recently combed the sand dunes of Indiana’s Lake Michigan shore, we wonder about softer shore styles they might have considered. Surely concrete barricades aren’t the only strategy for interfacing between land and water at the city’s edge … maybe […]
The Humble Bike Rack: Good, Bad and Ugly found in Chicago’s North Side Neighborhoods
Warning: some sign posts are designed to be easily removed and so are NOT SECURE places to lock your bike. Always check the base. The Humble Bike Rack: this under-appreciated piece of urban street furniture popped onto our radar again when Rogers Park announced its contest finalist for a new neighborhood bike rack design. The winners are all […]
Chicago’s People Spots Here to Stay … Here’s Why
People Spots are tiny parks, right along Chicago’s neighborhood sidewalks. Good for business, good for neighborhoods, good for people! Here’s why: