Ebb and flow: Chicago Riverwalk to transform the city's urban experience
Chicago’s river runs through the city’s very heart, right next to its famous Loop business and commercial core. Connecting it with surrounding suburbs, this important feature has been playing an important role in the city’s development for decades. Yet up until today large chunks of it remained disused. Now, a significant part of this once-industrial space has been transformed into a welcoming 1.5 mile long promenade, named the Chicago Riverwalk.
Ross Barney Architects collaborated with landscape architecture firm Sasaki to reclaim this valuable piece of urban land for the public and redefine it into a ‘dynamic space, lined with public amenities, restaurants, cultural activities and access to natural habitats for city residents and visitors alike.’ The project’s aim was to ‘return the river to Chicago and return Chicagoans to the river’, says lead architect Carol Ross Barney.
The recently launched project has already proven very popular, offering several leisure and hospitality activities that will transform Chicago’s urban experience
Recently launched to the public, this represents the final phase in an important city project, which has been ongoing since 2009, when its first stage was completed. Further works were finished by 2015, bringing developments up to this final phase that includes six brand new riverside areas that are especially designed to enhance the way Chicagoans interact with the riverbanks.
There’s a plaza, where visitors can simply relax and sunbathe; a series of piers that highlight the river’s ecology; and the Broadwalk’s sloping bridge and floating gardens – all conceived to bring tourists and locals close to the water in a meaningful way. Several activities are offered across the stretch of the project, ready to provide an eager crowd with a range of leisure and hospitality options, no doubt set to transform Chicago’s urban experience.
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Ross Barney Architects website and the Sasaki Associates website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Apple’s new Mac mini is a pocket-sized powerhouse thanks to the M4 processor
With the new Mac mini, Apple has squeezed its M4 and M4 Pro processors into the smallest conceivable footprint, physically and environmentally. Apple insiders tell us how
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
One to Watch: EJM Studio’s stool is inspired by the humble church pew
EJM Studio’s ‘Pew’ stool reimagines the traditional British church seating with a modern, eco-conscious twist
By Smilian Cibic Published
-
Hong Kong brutalism explored: tour the island with this new architectural map
Hong Kong brutalism is brought into sharp focus through the launch of Brutalist Hong Kong Map, the latest of its kind in publisher Blue Crow Media’s 20th-century architecture series
By Yoko Choy Published
-
Step inside a Brooklyn Brownstone that bridges old and new
'Brooklyn Brownstone' has been refreshed by Jon Powell Architects (JPA) and the result is a contemporary design rooted in modern elegance
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
The new Frederic Church Center at Olana complements its leafy Upstate New York site
Tour the Frederic Church Center for Art and Landscape, now open at Olana, a historic site in Upstate New York, courtesy of architecture studio ARO
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
On a sloped Los Angeles site, a cascade of green 'boxes' offers inside outside living
UnStack, a house by FreelandBuck, is a cascading series of bright green volumes, with mountain views
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
This New York brownstone was transformed through the power of a single, clever move
Void House, a New York brownstone reimagined by architecture studio Light and Air, is an interior transformed through the power of one smart move
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
A new Texas house transforms a sloping plot into a multi-layered family home
The Griggs Residence is a Texas house that shields its interior world and spacious terraces with a stone and steel façade
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Light, nature and modernist architecture: welcome to the reimagined Longwood Gardens
Longwood Gardens and its modernist Roberto Burle Marx-designed greenhouse get a makeover by Weiss/Manfredi and Reed Hildebrand in the US
By Ian Volner Published
-
A bridge in Buffalo heralds a new era for the city's LaSalle Park
A new Buffalo bridge offers pedestrian access over busy traffic for the local community, courtesy of schlaich bergermann partner
By Amy Serafin Published
-
Tour this Bel Vista house by Albert Frey, restored to its former glory in Palm Springs
An Albert Frey Bel Vista house has been restored and praised for its revival - just in time for the 2025 Palm Springs Modernism Week Preview
By Hadani Ditmars Published