3D Design Studio, LLP
Architect:
3D Design Studio, LLP – A. Melinda
Palmore, Darryl G. Crosby Engineer:
Earth Tech, Inc. — Lawrence L. Kirchner (project engineer), Eric
Lindemann (project manager)
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•FINALIST• 35th STREET |
•FINALIST• 41st /43rd STREETS |
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Evaluation Committee comments
Like the "migration" theme...the "connected/disconnected" theory is interesting, along with "music and movement."
The ideas about tying into the community, manipulating the grid and giving the history of the area are all good.
Architect's Statement
History
Thirty-fifth Street is the boundary between the Gap and Bronzeville communities. Until the past five years, redevelopment in the Gap has been sporadic at best. Recently, new housing construction in Lake Meadows, along Calumet Avenue, King Drive and Indiana Avenue, has made this a much sought after area for city living. On the other hand, development of the Bronzeville community has lagged behind, even with new construction developments like South Park Place and Bronzeville Homes. The shear amount of vacant land and the decades of neglect make this a hard area to stabilize. With HOPE VI Projects scheduled and further attention to the commercial district, things are looking up.
Existing Bridge
There is an existing bridge at a dead-end street. Of the three sites, it is the only one that can be said to have some sense of place due to the Stephen A. Douglas Memorial and Park to the North and one of the city's oldest orphanage buildings to the South. The opportunity to design a plaza bridge here is the perfect stopping point to what we see as a sequence of three bridges.
New Bridge
Plaza
This final plaza continues the theme of formal/informal gathering space leading to a formal ramp/stair sequence set in a landscape that takes you to the lakefront. Here the new plaza joins with the existing landscape to form a space where time is erased and the full history of Bronzeville is revealed.
Bridge
The last in the sequence of three bridges, it is designed with separate paths for the pedestrian and cyclist. Movement across the bridge is marked by a change of materials from stone and steel to wood and steel on the park side. The arched ramp descending from the bridge rotates the traveler to exit at the nearest point to the final folly. This rotation of the bridge - to parallel 35th Street on the city grid -- leads to the final park folly, completing the reconnection of the Bronzeville Community to the city.
Park Folly
The final destination in a series of three, this folly marks the closest point of reconnection. As a symbol of the continued movement towards the total connection between the Bronzeville Community and the city at large, the grid of the folly is completed while the ramp moves closer to the final act of connection.
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Evaluation Committee comments
Interesting approach...like the concept of connecting the bridges to connect
the "plazas" of the community and its "follies."
The ideas about tying into the community, manipulating the grid and giving
the history of the area are all good.
Architect's Statement
History
The addition of this pedestrian bridge to the existing system of bridges was prompted by the development of the new Lake Park Crescent Community now under construction. The development of this new community is part of HOPE VI. This federal program provides for the demolition of old high-rise projects and rebuilds mixed income communities. The site was once occupied by the Washington Park Homes that were demolished in 1996. The new project provides reconnection to the city grid.
New Bridge
Plaza
This is the second stage of movement towards connection between the community, lakefront, and the city at large. The plaza created for this site will connect a new population to the history of the community. As at 43rd Street, this plaza is designed for formal and informal gatherings, with a ramp/stair leading to the bridge, surrounded by landscaping. Here the plaza/ramp sequence will be made part of a landscaped park to give a sense of a gradual or rhythmic journey across to the lakefront.
Bridge
While stylistically similar to the first bridge, this differs as its park side begins the physical movement to reconnection with the city's grid symbolized by the folly. The bridge dead ends -- forcing travelers to shift direction in order to move closer to the folly. The sweeping ramp gradually lowers each traveler onto the park and its existing paths, leaving them closer to the final connection - the folly.
Park Folly
This folly is the mid point of reconnection in the series of three. The grid of the folly is one step closer to being complete and one step closer to reconnection with the city as a whole. Its display elements continue the history of the Bronzeville community beyond.
