Program
West Side Parks and their Architects
Join the Chicago Architecture Center online for an exploration of Jens Jensen's Columbus Park and Alfred Caldwell's Riis Park—two influential landscape designs inspired by our city's prehistoric shoreline and the region's rich ecology.
Jensen designed Columbus Park in 1917, seizing the opportunity for a clean-slate design in his last major park project in Chicago. Caldwell, on the other hand, designed Riis Park in 1936 using principles of the Prairie School inspired landscape to create an intimate space on a glacial ridge within a larger park focused on active recreation. Join us online as we examine these influential projects.
Tom Drebenstedt has been a CAC docent for 35+ years, engaging in docent leadership roles in addition to initiating several popular CAC tours, including the “Chicago Bungalow Belt” bus tours, and walks through Pilsen and Humboldt Park. Tom balances his love for being a docent with a career in construction, working on Symphony Center and the Art Institute of Chicago’s Modern Wing. He also loves his own Galewood bungalow and garden.
