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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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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. — Block Club Chicago
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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. — ARTnews
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... View full entry
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. — Chicago Tribune
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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. — Chicago Tribune
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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. — Chicago Sun Times
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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. — CityLab
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... View full entry