Community Re-Design of Barbara Jean Wright Courts
Fall 1998
The West Side Consortium has taken a strong leadership role in maintaining
affordable housing on the Near West Side. The Consortium asked the City
Design Center to assist in improving the affordable housing stock in their
service area. The Center was asked to provide architectural and physical
planning assistance to low-income residents of the Roosevelt Corridor
community whose residences were slated to undergo redevelopment in the
coming years. The Consortium was particularly interested in active resident
involvement in the process.
To establish the participatory design process, the City Design Center
staff developed and conducted a series of six workshops designed specifically
for Barbara Jean Wright Homes. The workshops provided a setting for residents
to organize themselves; elicit residents’ concerns about the development;
gather residents’ preferences for the rehabilitation process; and
develop their awareness of design issues. The Center produced a Community
Design Awareness Handbook for use in the participatory workshops. The
Handbook contained examples of best practice affordable housing projects
and specific design information regarding site development. The residents
used the Handbook as a reference when developing options for their own
neighborhood. The architect and developer for the rehabilitation of the
Barbara Jean Wright Homes incorporated the residents’ input and results
of the workshops into the plans. The rehabilitation plans were implemented
in the Spring of 2000.
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Map of Chicago with project location
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City Design Center Affiliated Faculty
Philip Burton, Associate Professor, School of Art and Design
Tom Forman, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Architecture, and
Associate Director, City Design Center
George Hemmens, Professor, Urban Planning and Policy Program, and Co-Director,
City Design Center
Collaborating Organizations
Chicago Community Development Corporation
Landon Associates Architects
Marcy-Newberry Association
West Side Consortium
Funding
The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
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