A Cooperative Marketplace: Collaborative Design
of the SASNC Retail Center
1996
The construction of the new Comiskey Park baseball stadium displaced
most of the retail stores in the South Armour Square neighborhood. Residents
now have to travel at least two miles, usually on public transit, to the
nearest grocery store. Seeking to rectify this situation, the South Armour
Square Neighborhood Coalition (SASNC) approached the City Design Center
and the UIC Voorhees Center for assistance in formulating an economic
development and design strategy for a new shopping center.
Using market and programmatic information collected by the Voorhees
Center and the SASNC, the City Design Center assessed the feasibility
of the preferred location for the shopping center, convened three collaborative
design workshops, and held real estate development seminars for SASNC
members. The final scheme for the shopping center in-corporated a formal
vocabulary derived from ‘traditional African architecture’ in
the building facades. The workshops and seminars contributed to sustaining
interest in the protracted development process. In the words of one of
the participants: “It’s exciting!” “It makes it real!”
|
Map of Chicago with project location
Detail of final
design of the SASNC
Retail Center
Collaborative design workshop with
SASNC members
|
City Design Center Affiliated Faculty and Staff
Roberta Feldman, Professor, School of Architecture, and Director, City
Design Center
City Design Center Visiting Scholar
Craig Wilkins, University of Minnesota
Collaborating Professional
Jack Naughton, Architect
Funding
City of Chicago Planning Grant
|
