Core premise & objectives :
The air rights to the Chicago River bridges provide for new housing typologies to address the shortage of affordable units in the 42nd ward.
Design approach :
The speculative prototype project Span City addresses the air rights to all eighteen operable double leaf, trunnion bascule bridges in the 42nd ward. These bridges and their air rights provide the Chicago Department of Transportation an opportunity for new micro housing typologies to be constructed across the Chicago River. The Beaux Arts bridge houses on the Chicago River are obsolete and unused facilities in the city awaiting reuse. These bridge houses will be converted into lobby access to a series of new super tall, super thin housing towers. There will be a total of thirty-six towers each of which will be a minimum of 100 meters in height, containing one hundred micro apartments. The 3600 units within the towers will bring millions of dollars annually to the Chicago Department of Transportation ensuring additional infrastructural developments throughout the city. The funds produced via the towers are the result of combining the housing with tourism and education programs. Programs such as sky entertainment and adult learning centers will create hybrid typologies as a model for twenty-first century cities. Span City is a project with many historic precedents, but simultaneously uncovers dormant sites for other speculative projects within the city of Chicago.
Opportunities for implementation :
“Chicago for All” ordinance preserves the supply of SRO units in the city. New micro apartments in the 42nd ward will ensure that SRO buildings will not be converted to market rate units. Span City reinforces the “Chicago for All” ordinance as an alternative for young professionals and empty nesters.
Site details :
42nd ward.
Eighteen operable double leaf, trunnion
bascule bridges which span the Chicago
River.
Collaborators & Partners :
Chicago Department of Transportation
Chicago Department of Tourism and Culture