via [ Google Books ]

This was an “of course” moment when I realized the Burnham Plan could be found online at Google Books. And yeah, it’s there. Enjoy!

Thomas Case Studies, Chicago

There is a lot to be cognizant of in the dynamics of our past settlements and how we have become an array of our present. In every place where place is found and every gap we fortify, we grapple with each array and force a future we hope to portray.

Site of Chicago, in 1820. The second Fort Dearborn, built in 1816, is situated to the left of the main river channel. From a lithograph by J. Gemmel, published by D. Fabronius, probably in 1857

I am learning more about the genetics of our organizing principles as they present themselves in our built environment - a diorama of the universe within. My instincts are to search out first principles, first causes and identities associated with the founding of this Mega-Metropolis on the lake. Exponential growth patterns encourage me to look back as if a culture of fewer could carry all we know and see today.

In this place with the Lake so large, we operate with the notion that it is capable of absorbing every folly. Today, the Chicago metropolitan area is six-and-a-half-million and growing. Upon investigation we can see paths of patterns in how the city became what we see today. Carolyn Raffensperger of the, Science & Environmental Health Network was very kind to give me this early view of Chicago from the water. Although it seems sparse it is rich in three basic elements: the water we drink (with 20% of the worlds fresh water), the land we sow (with the richest soils in the world), and the air we breath (the vast sky’s of fresh clean air). Yet, we often forget the life of which we are apart, and which knits and communicates between the three basic elements of our region, and creates the possibility of every identity. 

So here we are again on this magnificent lake, faced with a new array of challenges that prompt us to envision whole new ways of being. We are at this epic moment, faced with the greatest urban renewal project humankind has ever known. Most of our time on the land has been spent sheltering ourselves from the elements, now we are beginning to conceive how we may live in harmony with them. We are looking again, and taking inventories of the built and natural environments, and mining the past for answers. We are questioning the forces that played upon our common intent, and the subsequent patterns of practice produced. We are collecting again, this time data, frameworks, systems, best practices, stories and designs. 

This mere adolescent act of building capacity is changing who we are and how we interact with our surroundings. It is having ripple effects throughout our society and the world, including how we do business, and how we move through the world. It is changing every material we make, use and, and reuse, and animating every inert material with multiple tasks never before thought of. We are mining our dumps, junkyards and garbage cans. We are designing from cradle to cradle, and eliminating the throw away society. 

We are changing the equation.

To a certain degree Chicago studios and labs have been at the forefront of visioning new equations. The Urban Lab’s H2O project is one such vision for revitalizing our watershed by borrowing and extending motifs from the 1909 Burnham Plan of Chicago. Regardless, this new era continues to face enormous challenges from legacy industries and planning frameworks, particularly transportation frameworks developed for fossil fuel dependent industries. 

This epic moment in urban renewal will require new transportation design concepts which maximize alternative energy resources. Transportation planning during the past century was rarely integrated into place making land use designs. Highway H2O is not only an unfortunate metaphor but an all-too accurate one for industry looking back to the “hey days” of the 1950’s transportation expansion models. Another transportation related failure of the twentieth century has been our deep dependence on fossil fuels. Although our Investments portfolios are stocked with Oil, future use projections of oil indicate we have very little choice but to get beyond this addiction. As the energy equation for fossil fuels becomes less favorable this will strengthen the viability of alternate sources.

Energy Challenges Still Tying Us to Past Patterns of Behavior
As we begin to retool and make the necessary transition out of our deep dependence on fossil fuels we need to be pragmatic and mindful of how far some will go to hold to this legacy industry. We are at a very perilous moment. Today Chicago is retooling its refining capacity to support the heavy sour crude coming out of the Canadian Tar Sands. It is estimated that the Tar Sands will supply enough fuel to support the present rate of growth in our region for the next decade.  Yet, it comes at a tremendous cost to Chicago by:

• Degrading our environment: piping in, refining, and burning this high sulfur product throughout the Chicago land region (BP on the shores of Lake Michigan) will increase aggregate levels of pollution and further stress our sustaining airshed.
• Increasing energy costs: 1-barrel investment to produce 5-barrels of product (for heavy sour crude from the Tar Sands). That is down from 1-barrel investment to produce 100-barrels of product (for sweet crude).

It also comes at a tremendous cost to the natural resources in Alberta and the surrounding areas. 

• Deforestation: The tar sands ranks second to the Amazon Rainforest Basin in its rate of deforestation on the planet, and wiping out the ancient Boreal Forest in Canada.
• Increased CO2 Emissions: The tar sands mining procedure releases at least three times the CO2 emissions as regular oil production.
• Massive Tailing Ponds: The tailing ponds are growing, > 50 kilometres

As we are beginning to understand the importance of environmental sustainability from the viewpoint of our Great Lakes, we are simultaneously (due to our appetite for fossil fuels) creating a watershed disaster on the scale of Lake Michigan.

The Environmental Defense has called it the most destructive project on Earth.

Envisioning a Future
The best way to clarify future markets is with better solutions and cooler products. What apple did to the music industry can be replicated in the transportation industry. The “Living Planet City” out of Canada, the same Canada of the Alberta Tar Sands, have developed a visual aid for envisioning ways of organizing our communities around renewable energy. 

via [ Living Planet City ]  

Imagine a world where we no longer need to burn dirty fuels like coal or oil from the tar sands that cause global warming.

It would look a lot like the Living Planet City, where people’s homes, workplaces and vehiclesare powered by harnessing renewable energy from the sun, wind, water and earth. And it is possible now!

The Living Planet City is a virtual city, but real communities in Canada and around the world are already using similar systems. In these communities, citizens are gaining a whole new understanding of energy, and actively engaging in the fight against climate change. They are lowering greenhouse gas emissions and securing a local, renewable energy supply, all while reducing their energy bills and creating good, green jobs.

Thomas Case Studies, Chicago, View of Lake Michigan

My wife and I lived at the “Spice Factory” (building on the right) for four years. Its nice to see Chicago promoting it as a Creative Industrial District. 

Cermak Road Creative Industry District.

The Cermak Road Creative Industry District is a landmarked historic district comprised of 4 warehouses totalling 800,000 square feet nestled along the Chicago River between Chinatown and Pilsen. It has been re-zoned to include creative industry uses, such as Artist Work Space, Restaurant, Retail, Entertainment, High Tech Office, and Artisan Manufacturing. 

Imagine recording your music in the factory where Muddy Waters worked. Mounting a theater production where The Untouchables was filmed. Creating and manufacturing your fashion line in a shared workspace overlooking the Chicago River, with a view of downtown Chicago outside your window.…

Two open houses will provide opportunities to view the district and learn more about leasing and investment opportunities, financial incentives and other developments. City officials will be present to learn more about what your creative business needs.

Saturday August 15 and Sunday August 16, 2009, 2:00 - 5:00 pm.

Begin at the Wendnagle Warehouse
600 W. Cermak

Update:
via the [ Chicago Tribune ]

Artists courted for idea factories
By Angie Leventis Lourgos

Tribune phot by E. Jason Wambsgans

Historic warehouses that helped launch Chicago’s industrial boom more than a century ago could house the city’s first “Creative Industries District,” sheltering artists and artisans of various media in one spot.

Four factories on Cermak Road once provided the nation with coffee, spices, window treatments, water barrels and wholesale groceries. Thousands of employees crossed the Cermak Road bridge each day to earn their pay at the W.M. Hoyt, Thompson and Taylor Spice, Wendnagle, and Western Shade Cloth buildings.

But the factories once known as the Spice Barrel District dwindled as the industrial age came to a close. The area was designated a landmark district in April 2006, restricting its buildings to industrial uses.

Now the city is trying to turn the corridor into a haven for the arts, centered on creative industries like film production, engineering, fine arts, fashion, and information specialists.

A $15,000 study commissioned by the city found a need for more affordable arts-related space. Roughly 80,000 artists are in Chicago and about 5,000 art students graduate every year, offering a steady stream of new creative workers. Arts-related enterprises add around $1 billion to the city’s economy, according to the study.

“We hope that over the years this can grow organically to become popular, vibrant — a great resource for the creative community,” said Julie Burros the city’s director of cultural planning

But the project hinges on luring artist-tenants — a tough crowd to serve.

What is remarkable about this statement is there once was a thriving artist community here 15 years ago, before the city started their annual eviction campaign of artists for many reasons including using their space as live / work spaces. It was such a wonderful place. I met Jesse Bercowetz, Chester Alamo, Nick Nuccio and an array of other creative people. I remember going down to the 3rd floor theater and being mesmerized by the Michael Clarke Duncan’s performance in ”A Soldiers Story.” It is still one of the greatest performances I have ever seen.

Despite the persistent recession, Mumford and Burros were upbeat about the prospect of attracting tenants, though Burros said it might take 10 to 20 years for the entire area to thrive.

With the right people and the right policies, I could guarantee a thriving artist community with in 12 months - EASY

The city rezoned the district in February 2007 to include office, retail, restaurant, entertainment and other uses beyond industrial.

But residential use won’t be permitted, barring tenants from combining studio and living space — a popular lifestyle among artists.

This is counter productive. It appears they are not trying to create a workable space for artist to develop their craft, but an artist / gallery district for the performance of art making. For those who are already highly capitalized.

The project was modeled after other successful warehouse district reinventions in North America. The old saw mills and steel factories of Granville Island in Vancouver were converted to a public market with galleries and shops. Nineteenth Century factories in MassMoCA in North Adams, Mass., house visual, performing and new-media arts. The Distiller District in Toronto offers 168 predominantly arts-related businesses — including a studio where the movie “Chicago” was filmed.

I find it amazing that this project isn’t modeled after the many successful Chicago or New York models. It’s not even modeled after the once thriving Podmajerski (John Podmajerski II) Artist’s spaces in neighboring ”East Pilsen”

Jazz vocalist Agnes Payne, who lives on the city’s West Side, said a central artistic community could help her look for work. Rather than running around the city, she could reach prospective employers on Cermak Road.

“The idea of the city designating this area for artists is great,” she said. “Now it’s dispersed all over the city. … This would give art one focal point.”

Thomas Adaptive Reuse, Case Studies, Chicago

I would like to direct readers to series of lengthy posts by Aaron M. Renn at Urbanphile. I am curious how well his thoughts hold up from a marginalized point-of-view. 

Chicago: A Declaration of Independence

Chicago: Reconnecting the Hinterland
Part 1A - Metropolitan Connections
Part 1B - High Speed Rail
Part 2A - Onshore Outsourcing
Part 2B - On Innovation

Thomas Chicago, Infrastructure, Northwest Indiana

[ Chicago 2016 ]

[ Bid Book ]

Proposed Venues

Lakefront Rowing Course	McCormick Place: host 11 Olympic disciplines	Olympic Sports Complex at Northerly Island
Olympic Stadium in Washington Park	Olympic Tennis Center at Lincoln Park	Olympic Village: Near South Side
Soldier Field: Soccer	United Center: Gymnastics	UIC Pavilion: Boxing

Thomas Chicago