After the mid review, we moved on to concentrate on to a specific aspect that we wanted to develop most. We chose the 16th street as our main focus. During the mid review, Doug King told us that the 26th street is second busiest commercial street in Chicago, since we had found a lot of potentialities along the 16th street, we could definitely duplicate the same commercial element of the 26th street and apply it to the 16th. So after discussion with my partner Shirlo, we decided to blend all the functions together on 16th street instead of splitting them up.
Still, by using the same approach, we found all the underutilized spots along the 16th street. Then divided them into Chicago lots (25’*125’). We also calculated all the spaces in HDR’s proposal, and then converted these spaces into typical hospital modules (31’6”*31’6”). That was when we started to play with these blocks and realized that a modularized approach would be great for us (we decided to use lego blocks to build our physical model as well!)
We call our proposal STREET-SCRAPER, which is basically a linear healthcare corridor along the 16th street. There are 5 major segments along the street: healthcare district, mixed used development, schools/community center, commercial center, and center for innovation. Each segment is developed on the basis of the existing function around that district. But all segments are also connected and immersed into each other. We got our inspiration after visiting the Northwestern Memorial Hospital: to connect different functions through a universal floor that runs through all the way. So now we have retail stores, cafes, and restaurants on the ground floor stretching all the way from west to east along the 16th street. Healthcare functions are elevated above.
By doing so, neighbors in North Lawndale will feel more engaged in the community while walking through the 16th street, different experiences can be obtained on the street level. It is surely a great way to revitalize the whole community.
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