Archinect - News

Theaster Gates’ Rebuild Foundation adds to leadership team in Chicago

2023-07-21T14:24:00-04:00

The celebrated ongoing restoration of Chicago’s St. Laurence elementary school by the Theaster Gates’ Rebuild Foundation has added new leadership to support the $10.35 million project, which broke ground on the city’s South Side in May 2022.

The Foundation shares that Nonprofit Operations Strategist Racheal Allen, Special Collections Librarian Heather Hummons, and Director of Finance Mileak Harper have all been hired in support of the initiative, which seeks to “[support] artists of color and their livelihoods, while bringing new cultural resources into the South Side community.”

Once completed the project will deliver a total of 40,000-square-feet 40,000 square feet of artist studios, co-working floors, a research archive, classrooms, and spaces dedicated to various objects from the Foundation's own collection.

Previously on Archinect: Theaster Gates' newest community arts incubator breaks ground on Chicago's South Side

In a statement, Gates said: “Central to the redemption of St. L...

Lee Bey explores Chicago’s overlooked South Side in new PBS special

2023-02-23T08:00:00-05:00

Chicago native and noted architectural photographer Lee Bey recently took PBS on a tour of his city’s overlooked South Side.

Among the stops on the Sun-Times critic’s excursion were his former high school, pioneering local architect John Moutoussamy’s self-designed private residence in West Chesterfield, Jeanne Gang’s overshadowed SOS Children’s Village Lavezzario Community Center, and the Art Moderne First Church of Deliverance from 1939.

Towards the end, he also mentions his optimism for young people, preference for the community-based development of religious projects, and what he called the “democratization” of historic preservation as the things that give him the most hope as a professional chronicler of the built environment.

Previously on Archinect: Lee Bey reminds us of the beauty and importance of Chicago's Black Churches

Bey also talked about the well-documented “heyday” of Bronzeville, a neighborhood that is now experiencing a new, contemporary renaissance with multiple ...

'Hollywood of the Midwest': $100 million media campus in Chicago's South Side breaks ground

2023-02-14T15:42:00-05:00

The City of Chicago and Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot are celebrating the groundbreaking of a 380,000-square-foot, seven-acre enclosed media campus and sound stage development in the heart of the city’s South Side. Called the Regal Mile Studios Campus 1, the privately funded project is sponsored by investment bank Loop Capital, which supports Mayor Lightfoot’s INVEST South/West investment initiative.

The $100 million development is located in the Stony Island neighborhood and intends to reimagine the pre-existing Regal Theater and 79th Street Corridor, with designs led by Chicago-based practice Bauer Latoza Studio. The scheme will include three film studios, office space, staging areas, and adequate parking space. All of these components will be divided across three areas within a triangular site. The studio will feature a central internal portion that will act as an open flex space for staging and staff access.

Aerial view of the project site. Image: Bauer Latoza Studio

The project’s eq...

New homes made from repurposed train containers are heading to Chicago's South Side

2022-08-16T18:11:00-04:00

A team of investors has joined forces to bring luxury, energy-efficient container homes to the South Side — and neighbors could move in as soon as this winter. Vincennes Village, a collection of 12 40-foot-long modern, eco-friendly container homes, will be built at 7231 S. Vincennes Ave.

The Vincennes Village initiative, led by project manager Darryl Burton and developer Anthony Casboni, is reportedly the first to bring single-family container homes to Chicago.

Rendering: Vincennes Village

The structures will be built from 8-foot-long train shipping containers, with ceilings spanning nearly 10 feet high. Residences will be 1,200–1,800 square feet in size and two stories tall, including between three to four bedrooms. The new homes are advertised as energy-efficient, featuring motion-activated lights and faucets.

Onyx Architectural Services, a minority-owned Chicago firm, is the lead developer and aims to offer the homes at a starting price of $270,000.

Maya Lin's next sculptural installation will grace the Obama Presidential Library in Chicago

2022-08-08T13:10:00-04:00

The forthcoming Obama Presidential Library, designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien, will now include a sculptural installation from Maya Lin, according to an announcement made on August 4 by the Obama Foundation.

The sculptural piece, titled “Seeing Through the Universe,” will anchor the library’s newly-announced water garden, which has been named to honor Obama’s late mother, Ann Dunham. It includes a stone oculus and pebble water feature surrounded by pathways leading away from the installation and into the library’s other recently-unveiled outdoor gathering spaces designed by landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh.

“When we thought about what may be a fitting way to commemorate my mother’s influence on my sister and me, I thought about where she would want to be in this space,” this year’s A’22 keynote speaker said in a statement. “I could picture her sitting on one of the ...

Obama Presidential Center Director, Louise Bernard, discusses the site's progress

2022-06-22T11:51:00-04:00

The construction will take place holistically at once. Except for our athletic facility, whose timeline is little bit later. And there is all the landscaping work that will commence once the construction is further along. The vision of what the center will be is firmly understood. The drawings are complete and ready to be executed upon. The concrete work will be the next phase. People will begin to see the construction coming out of the ground beginning in the summer.

Bernard told ARTnews she wants the 19-acre TWBTA-designed library and parks complex to “serve as an example” for other developments in the city. The Director also described the museum's four-floor gallery layout, which is topped by a "Sky Room" feature in addition to a 5,000-square-foot special exhibits gallery located on the building's lowest level. When discussing the space she shared, "we will delve into topics that we only touch upon in the core exhibit.”

The museum will also include a replica of the oval office, and core galleries consisting of mostly donated objects filtered through the focal point of the historic 2008 Presidential election, with the curatorial direction being “not just to be about him but about the people who made his presidency possible.”

Northwestern Medicine announces $100M+ outpatient center in Chicago's Bronzeville

2022-06-03T15:09:00-04:00

Northwestern Medicine plans to spend more than $100 million to build a 120,000-square-foot outpatient care center in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood — after facing past criticism that it hasn’t done enough to serve patients on the South Side.

If approved by the state Health Facilities and Services Review Board, the proposed medical facility will be positioned on the 4800 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue. The center would include an immediate care center, primary care, specialty care, pharmacy services, mammograms, lab tests, chemotherapy, and programs to promote community health. It is expected to serve more than 50,000 patients a year. In addition, the project is expected to create 1,000 construction and 100 healthcare and related jobs. Construction could begin in summer 2023 with a scheduled opening in summer 2025.

The proposal aligns with Chicago Mayor Lightfoot’s $1.4 billion INVEST South/West program, an initiative that aims to revitalize 12 commercial corridors within 10 South and West Side community areas. As detailed by the Chicago Tribune, Northwestern has faced criticism for its prioritization of investment in higher-income areas, rather than lower-income communities of color. While Northwestern Medicine dis...

Theaster Gates' newest community arts incubator breaks ground on Chicago's South Side

2022-05-10T17:22:00-04:00

On the heels of another recent multimillion-dollar community revitalization effort through his non-profit Rebuild Foundation, 2022 Serpentine Pavilion designer Theaster Gates was back in the South Side last week to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new St. Laurence Arts Incubator in Chicago.

Joined by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Gates spoke about the new $10.35 million project, which will transform a disused elementary school — shuttered since 2002 — into a “think tank and makerspace” for local artists with 40,000 square feet of studios, co-working, research, educational, and entrepreneurial spaces. The new initiative joins Gates’ Prada-backed Dorchester Industries Experimental Design Lab, also located on the South Side, that was announced last summer.

Image courtesy of the Rebuild Foundation

“The St. Laurence renovation is a work of art in and of itself," local philanthropist Alec Litowitz said in a statement prior to the May 3rd groundbreaking ceremony. "Resurrecting this ab...

Illinois grants $26 million to performing arts revitalization project in Chicago led by actor Harry Lennix

2022-05-02T17:53:00-04:00

Harry Lennix’s Lillian Marcie Center for the Performing Arts, a project located at 4343 S. Cottage Grove Ave. on Chicago’s South Side and designed to aid in the renaissance of Bronzeville, will receive capital funding from the State of Illinois to the tune of $26 million, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Tuesday.

The Chicago-born actor describes the project as “the Black version of the Lincoln Center.” It will house a 350-seat multi-level auditorium, flexible performance stage, a second smaller 100-seat theater, and related areas, such as rehearsal spaces, dressing rooms, offices, and outdoor gathering spaces. The building also features a museum dedicated to Black contributions to the performing arts. The center will occupy a former warehouse, and once revitalized, will be the home of the Congo Square Theatre Company. Chicago-based firm Nia Architects is carrying out the design.

Lennix hopes the project will draw tourists to the historic Bronzeville neighborhood. The new facility is expected to cost approximately $80 million and is scheduled for completion in the summer or fall of 2024.

Chicago Architectural Biennial opens new exhibition space at the Chicago Cultural Center

2022-03-29T17:41:00-04:00

The Chicago Architecture Biennial has announced the opening of the CAB Studio, a new, year-round exhibition space located on the first floor of the Chicago Cultural Center. The studio will be a space to explore design and present innovative ideas. It will host exhibitions, programs, and events, along with youth and family activities.

CAB Studio will open with the exhibition, Architecture of Reparations, by New York-based collaborative Riff Studio, including designers Isabel Strauss, Rekha Auguste-Nelson, and Farnoosh Rafaie. It incorporates a study of public policy, architectural history, and reparations to tell the story of the erasure in Bronzeville, a historic Black neighborhood in the South Side of Chicago. This is the focus and outcome of a thesis project by Strauss while studying at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

The exhibition uncovers the history and tells t...

Theaster Gates teams up with Prada to launch incubator for emerging designers of color

2021-09-02T17:01:00-04:00

Theaster Gates is teaming up with Prada to launch a program that will support and invest in up-and-coming artists and designers of color.

Dorchester Industries, the design and manufacturing arm of Theaster Gates Studio, in partnership with Gates’ Rebuild Foundation and Prada Group, announced the launch of the Dorchester Industries Experimental Design Lab. Based on the South Side of Chicago, it is a three-year program that will serve as a platform for artists of color by creating opportunities to amplify their work, invest in their development, and expose them to organizations looking to work with diverse talent.

Designers in the areas of fashion, furniture, industrial and graphic design, and the arts will be trained, funded, and mentored through design awards and public programming. It will provide a platform for exhibitions, performances, and public dialogue, creating “a nucleus of design intelligence on the South Side,” as stated on Gates’ Instagram.

Related on Archinect: A Con...

Kanye West originally planned to move his actual childhood home to Chicago's Soldier Field for DONDA listening event

2021-09-02T14:59:00-04:00

Kanye West built a replica of his boyhood home for his show last week at Soldier Field because the city denied him permission to move the real thing.

For the Chicago stop of his DONDA listening tour, West built a replica of his childhood South Shore home with the addition of a cross on top, that sat in the center of Soldier Field. As reported by the Chicago Sun Times, the home “served as a dramatic centerpiece as dancers dressed in SWAT gear and a lineup of trucks continuously circled its perimeter at one point.”

Regarding the inability to move the original home, Chicago’s Buildings Department said: “Moving a home in Chicago is a very technical process that requires structural engineer reports and multiple city permits. The request to move the house at 7815 S. South Shore Dr. was denied last week because no permit application had been received to excavate and move the vacant property which is also in Demolition Court.”

Last year, West purchased his childhood home, which was abandoned and boarded up, for about $225,000 with plans to renovate it, according to a WGN report.

Theaster Gates leading $4.5 million revitalization of garden in Chicago's South Side

2021-07-29T18:19:00-04:00

Adding to his ongoing effort to transform neglected areas of Chicago’s South Side into sustainable community spaces, artist, educator, and urban planner Theaster Gates is embarking on a $4.5 million revitalization of a garden.

The 1.3-acre Kenwood Gardens is located in Chicago’s Grand Crossing neighborhood, which is home to a number of Gates’ restoration projects. Most notably, there's the Stony Island Arts bank, a public arts space and library, that was formerly a fully operating local bank.

For the garden, Gates, along with head of planting for the garden, Chris Abraham, envision spaces for educational programming, meditation, and community-focused gardening. The once overgrown plot of land will be converted into an oasis, featuring Minnie Pearl Phlox, Lilac Squirrel, and more.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Theaster Gates (@theastergates)

So far, $1.5 million worth of work has been completed, denoted as phase one, which is about beautifying the...

Michael Sorkin-designed project for Chicago nonprofit Blacks in Green plans to move ahead

2020-07-09T19:08:00-04:00

New York City-based Terreform and Chicago community development nonprofit Blacks in Green are planning to moving ahead with the BIG Green Homestead project, a development that will bring community-owned sustainable housing and commercial spaces to the city's South Side.

The project is led by Blacks in Green Founder and President Naomi Davis and its design, Energy News Network reports, was worked on by architect Michael Sorkin up until just before he passed away due to COVID-19 in late March. In addition to Sorkin, architect and School of the Art Institute of Chicago educator Ellen Grimes and WXY urban planner Tracy Sanders have also contributed to the project.

Rendering courtesy of Terreform.

The development seeks to instill a “sustainable-square-mile” infilled urban model for the West Woodlawn neighborhood, which is in proximity to the proposed Jackson Park site of the forthcoming Barack Obama Presidential Center designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (TWBTA) and is faci...

After Rahm Emanuel steps down, critics of Obama Presidential Center may have stronger chance to negotiate a CBA

2018-09-26T16:12:00-04:00

Nearly everyone in Chicago is in favor of establishing the Obama library on the South Side. But now, “There’ll be more room for dissent, and more people in Chicago generally willing to speak their mind without fearing the Emanuel administration,” said Juanita Irizarry, executive director of Friends of the Parks, which has opposed the seizure of parkland. [...] Emanuel’s departure also gives hope to critics pushing for a more open process.

In the ongoing controversy about the Obama Presidential Center's proposed site on Jackson Park, design journalist Zach Mortice writes about how critics of the library might have more opportunities to argue their case for a community benefits agreement (CBA) and transparency on the project planning process, once Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel — who decided to not run for a third term — steps down.

The Twitterverse Responds to Obama's Presidential Library

2017-05-08T18:34:00-04:00

During Obama's unveiling of plans for his upcoming Presidential Library and Center, the former POTUS revealed his young ambitions of being an architect. During yesterdays events, he proclaimed "I wanted to be an architect when I was a kid. Somehow, I took a wrong turn." Back in June, Obama chose architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien to design the foundation, but the community-organizer from Chicago has remained quite active in the planning process for his building, even sending the team back to the drawing boards after finding their initial design a little too quiet.

Blair Kamin, of the The Chicago Tribune, is as of yet, the only reporter to give his take on the plans. While he is hopeful that kinks will be worked out, he would like to see Obama's populist agenda for the center reflected more in the completed design. But, now that the plans have been released to the public, everyone gets to be a critic and responses to the design, concept, potential effects to the surrounding com...

Take a look at the first images of the design for the Obama Presidential Center by TWBTA

2017-05-03T18:55:00-04:00

As promised, initial designs for the Obama Presidential Center by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects were released today. The Center will be composed of three buildings—the Museum, the Forum, and the Library—that surround a rectangular plaza.

The four primary sides of the Museum, the tallest structure on the site, are hexagons, sloping out as they rise before tapering back in about a quarter of the way up the building. In the drawings, the Museum, as well as the other two buildings, appears to be clad in stone. The façades are punctured with a few narrow rectangular windows. On the south-western corner of the Museum, a chunk is cut out of the bottom half and the resulting vertical surfaces of the indentation are glazed. On the opposite corner, the top half is cut out, producing a balcony. A large entrance on the southern side leads out to the plaza via a ramp.

The Forum and the Library line the southern and eastern edges of the plaza. They will be single-story structures with terrac...

Chicago will indeed be the home of the Obama Presidential Center

2015-05-12T13:05:00-04:00

It's official: The Barack Obama Foundation announced today that the Barack Obama Presidential Center will be located on Chicago's South Side, at a site near either Washington Park or Jackson Park. This confirms previous reports hinting at Chicago as the chosen city, winning over alternate proposals for New York City and Honolulu. The Obama family has strong ties to Chicago – it's where Michelle Obama was born and raised, President Obama's political career took off, and where the Presidential couple met, were married and raised a family.

The University of Chicago, where President Obama was a law professor for twelve years, will serve as a close partner in the realization of the Presidential Center, providing resources and infrastructural support. Alongside the Presidential Library, the Center will also include a museum and facilities for the Obama Foundation's operations. The Foundation will fund the construction of the Center, and is also planning to establish a presence in Honolulu,...