Tag Archives: Chicago

Design, Parks, Water

Pier Review

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A renovation of Chicago’s Navy Pier by James Corner Field Operations is out to attract a new audience that’s local, urbane, and into design.

By Zach Mortice / Photography by Sahar Coston-Hardy

The Wave Wall stairs act as a social space as well as a visual centerpiece. Photo © Sahar Coston-Hardy for Navy Pier, Inc., and James Corner Field Operations.

New Yorkers avoid Times Square, and Chicagoans stay away from Navy Pier. It’s an ironclad rule. The public spaces that are most popular are there to attract tourists. Locals don’t go there.

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Environment

The Halprins in Motion

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Design as a sensory experience.

By Zach Mortice

“Driftwood Village—Community,” Sea Ranch, California. Experiments in Environment Workshop, July 6, 1968.

Put away your tracing paper and charcoal pencils. Shut your books. Stop thinking. Put on a blindfold and go for a walk in the woods. Make a structure out of yourselves, human bodies. Catalog everything that you see, hear, feel, and smell. Build a city out of beachside driftwood in complete silence. Take off your clothes. Now start thinking about design. Continue reading The Halprins in Motion →