Photo Credit: Renderings by SmithGroupJJR / Studio Gang
In setting the framework for a new Northerly Island park in Chicago, the charge for the design team led by SmithGroupJJR and Studio Gang Architects was clear—design the next great icon for the city on one of the last large tracts of lakefront. The resulting design takes advantage of its downtown Lake Michigan location by creating opportunities for extraordinary and inspirational outdoor experiences within reach of millions of people each day.
Northerly Island is a 91-acre, man-made peninsula originally conceived as part of Daniel Burnham’s 1909 Plan of Chicago. The site later hosted the 1933 “Century of Progress” World’s Fair and then became a public park before serving as an airport for 55 years. It is a place that most Chicagoans know from one or more of its earlier lives, and the design team faced the challenge of recasting Northerly Island as a vital and sustainable open space within contemporary Chicago, while still honoring Burnham's vision.
Setting The Vision
Through a series of public open houses and charrettes, the design team worked with the Chicago Park District (CPD) and the city to collect ideas, desires, and concerns from the public at large. The overwhelming consensus was that Northerly Island should be an ecologically diverse park, in which visitors can explore nature and experience peaceful solitude without leaving the city. Prominent among the responses were requests for ponds, meadows, a forest, educational activities, integration with the Museum Campus, diverse water activities, links to the mainland, and sustainable design.