Finishing the River Walk - Introduction and Block One: The Marina

construction of Wabash-State segment of Chicago River Walk

More details emerged Wednesday on the plans for Phase II of the Chicago River Walk.  At a public meeting at the Chicago Architecture Foundation, Chicago Department of Transportation Project Manager Michelle Woods offered a presentation - which she promised would soon be on line - and she was joined by architect Carol Ross Barney and  Sasaki Associates Principal Gina Ford.

from left: Carol Ross Barney, Gina Ford of Sasaki Associates, Michelle Woods, CDOT

Ross Barney told me that the final six blocks of the River Walk were designed as a procession that goes from more structured, at the denser, eastern end, to more natural, at the less dense - at least for now - western end.

“A typical boardwalk,” said Woods, “has a consistent look from one end to the other.  On the main branch of the Chicago River, every moveable bridge is unique, every one is different and separate from each other.  So we took this as an opportunity to create a different experience as you went from bridge to bridge and we used different types of river themes to come up with those different options.”

click images for larger view

Right now, the finished river walk ends at State Street.  Planning and design for the next phases is 90% for the segment from State to LaSalle, with the last segment, from LaSalle to Lake Street, still in the early conceptual stages of design.  Cost for the overall project is estimate at $90 to $100 million, with funding still to be put in place.  Woods said the city was still working on receiving an invitation to  to apply for a federal loan program most often used for revenue producing projects such as tollways, with the funds paid back over a thirty year period.  If everything falls into place, construction could begin as early as this summer.  Drawing on experience from the construction of completed blocks of the river walk, time of construction is estimated at 15 to 18 months per block.

Perhaps the key component to the River Walk is making it continuous, as opposed to the current obstacle course.  “It's a river climb now,” said Woods.  “You have to climb the stairs, cross the street, and then descend a set of stairs to get down to the next section.”  To alleviate this, connection walkways, like the one recently built under the Wabash Avenue Bridge, have to be constructed to take each segment of the river walk under the bridge, itself.

The Marina, State to Dearborn

Each segment has been given its own name.  The first, from State to Dearborn, is called The Marina.
It will contain 1,900 square-feet of retail space; and a 3,000 square-foot plaza area for Al Fresco dining.  The tops of the tall-backed benches double as the surface for the bar.  “You have steps,” says Woods, “that go down, so you can sit there and enjoy the water very closely.  This might also be a spot for recreational boat docking.”

As I mentioned yesterday, there are still a lot of questions about the River Walk development, but there's also an enormous potential to moving the Chicago River towards its full potential as an invaluable civic amenity, which we'll pick up on as we discuss the other blocks of the design in future posts.

The Jetty - Wells to Franklin

(Right now, I have to start getting ready for the Landmarks Commission session on Bertrand Goldberg's Prentice Hospital, today - Thursday - beginning at 12:45 in the County Board Room of the County Building 118 North Clark.  Open to the public.)

Saturday Retro: The Architects Speak!

For today, links to a selection of our interviews and encounters with architects down through the years.  Most of them are from a while back.  In some cases, they're from a time before a young architect's most famous buildings came into being.  In others, they show a seasoned architect at the time of the opening of a major project.  Whatever the context, each interview reveals different aspects of the thinking of some of most talented architects to work in Chicago.

Rem Koolhaas [2003] - “We're not trying to emulate the current mess.  We are just as interested in the sublime . . .”

Carol Ross Barney [2004]:  “When people comment on buildings, they're really talking about their comfort level . . . What they're really saying is ‘It's nothing I haven't seen before, so its OK with me!’”

John Ronan [2004]: “You don't see many great spaces anymore.  What's the great space that's been built in Chicago in the past 25 years?”

Tod Williams and Bille Tsien [2012] “It really stems from a very deep desire to try to make the world better, which is both naive, but also very strong in what we do, a motivator in what we do.”

Jeanne Gang [2004]: “When we make form, we're thinking about how we can make the identity fluctuate.  It doesn't have to be one thing all the time.”

Helmut Jahn [2003]: “Everything is left only as much as it needs to be . . . ”

Erich Mendelsohn's Incessant Visions, plus, Canberra today, Magic and Poetry of Havana, Wednesday

Never too late to be adding to the October Calendar of Chicago Architectural Events.

On Wednesday, October 24th, at 6:30 p.m., the Spertus Institute will be hosting screening, Incessant Visions, on the life and work of Architect Erich Mendelsohn.

In March 1933, German Jewish architect Erich Mendelsohn, head of Germany’s largest architectural firm, fled Berlin, foreseeing grave consequences from Hitler’s rise to power. In Amsterdam he bumped into an acquaintance who asked what he was doing there. The reply: “I’m relocating my office.” It wouldn’t be the last time Mendelsohn would start over in a foreign land.

In Incessant Visions, Israeli director Duki Dror unfolds the amazing story of Mendelsohn’s life through letters exchanged with his wife Luise, an accomplished cellist. The film explores Mendelsohn’s rise as an architectural visionary, his friendships with Albert Einstein and Frank Lloyd Wright, and the jagged trajectory of his career as he worked in England, Israel, and the United States.

 Following the screening will be a discussion led by Stanley Tigerman.  More information here

Today, Monday, October 15th, David Headon, Advisor to the Centennial of Canberra and Australian Capital Territory projects, will discuss The Planning of Canberra, at 5:00 p.m. in Kresge Hall at Northwestern in Evanston.  The 1911 plan was the result of a competition won by Marion Mahony and Walter Burley Griffin.

Then this Wednesday the 17th, 12:15 p.m. at the Great Cities Institute, Julio César Pérez Hernández, author of Inside Havana, will discuss The Magic and Poetry of Havana: A Glance at the Past, Present and Future of a Caribbean Metropolis.

Also this week, we've got The Core at The Eden Project at AIA/Chicago, Felipe Assadi discussing Contemporary Chilean Architecture at Crown Hall, IIT, Carol Ross Barney talking about Design for Sustainable Transportation at CAF, Anna Tobin D’Ambrosio on Cranes, Dragons and Geishas: Metalwork of the Aesthetic Movement, at the Driehaus Museum (twice), Bill Tyre on Glessner House at 125, at the Cultural Center for Landmarks Illinois and, again at CAF, Our Buildings as Ambassadors: U.S. Dept. of State's New Design Excellence Initiative.

There are 15 great programs just this week, and nearly three dozen still to come this month.  Check them all out on the October Calendar of Chicago Architectural Events.