Carl Sandburg’s Chicago

The poet Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) loved and defended Chicago, his adopted home. Sandburg described his poem Chicago as a chant of defiance, a praise of agriculture, industry, and the railroads for which Chicago was an important hub, during a time when the city was the nation’s industrial capital. Today, the poem still resonates, particularly for me as a first-time visitor.

Chicago is big. It is bustling. Like New York, it is what I always imagined a great city should be. Yes, as Sandburg acknowledged, Chicago has its flaws, of which its notorious homicide rate (more than 800 victims in 2021) stands out. But the Chicago I’ve seen during my stay here is vibrant, diverse, exciting, historic, and exhilarating. It has an embarrassment of cultural riches, fantastic parks, strong universities, and unparalleled architecture. And the Chicagoans I’ve encountered are truly genuine and friendly. The city I was born and raised in—Vancouver, Canada—is cosmopolitan and beautiful, but it seems downright sleepy and pint-sized by comparison. Chicago may be the Second City, but it most definitely is not second rate. Chicago is world-class, full stop. 

Chicago
By Carl Sandburg (1914) 
        

        Hog Butcher for the World,

        Tool maker, Stacker of Wheat,
        Player with Railroads and the Nation's
             Freight Handler;
        Stormy, husky, brawling,
        City of the Big Shoulders:

They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I have seen your painted women under the gas lamps luring the farm boys.

And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: yes, it is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to kill again.

And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the faces of women and children I have seen the marks of wanton hunger.

And having answered so I turn once more to those who sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer and say to them:

Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.
Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the little soft 

cities;

Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning as a savage pitted against the wilderness,
            Bareheaded,
            Shoveling,
            Wrecking,
            Planning,
            Building, breaking, rebuilding,

Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with white teeth,

Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young man laughs,

Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has never lost a battle,

Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse, and under his ribs the heart of the people,
            Laughing!

Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.

Chicago, That Toddlin’ Town

Spectacular aerial view of Chicago by Jake Davis @inairshare_designer. Jake is a principal and Public Safety Design Leader with DLR Group.

 
The annual AIA Conference on Architecture takes place this coming week in Chicago, and I will be there. I have never been to Chicago before. A visit to the Windy City is a pilgrimage every architect should undertake at some point during their career, and this is my opportunity. Anyone familiar with the history of architecture in this country knows Chicago’s leading role in pioneering experimentation and innovations in building design that profoundly shaped the morphology of American cities.
 
Notably, Chicago is the birthplace of the modern skyscraper. Seminal Chicago skyscrapers include the Home Insurance Building (which was the first steel-framed skyscraper, completed in 1885, but demolished in 1931), the Monadnock Building (completed in 1893, the tallest load-bearing brick building ever constructed), the Reliance Building (completed in 1895, it was the first tall building whose facades would be dominated by glass), the terra-cotta clad Wrigley Building (Chicago’s first air-conditioned office building), the gothic revival Tribune Tower (the winner of a famous 1922 design competition), Marina City (a visionary mixed-use complex, completed in 1968), the structurally expressive John Hancock Center (completed in 1969), and the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower, and the tallest building in the world when completed in 1974).
 
Chicago is equally known for promulgating several influential strains of modern architecture, which include the first Chicago School (which exploited the new technologies giving rise to the skyscraper), the Prairie School (an attempt to develop an indigenous North American style of architecture, of which the Robie House is perhaps its supreme expression), and the International Style (exemplified by the work of Bauhaus émigré Ludwig Mies van der Rohe).
 
The famous architects who helped build Chicago are legion: William Le Baron Jenney, Daniel Burnham, Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies, and many more. Generations of architects since stand on their broad shoulders, ensuring Chicago continues to be in the vanguard of new developments in architecture.
 
Of course, there is so much more to do and see in Chicago beyond its noteworthy architecture, including world-class museums (the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Art Institute of Chicago, Adler Planetarium, and the Museum of Science and Industry are on my can’t miss list), the Chicago Riverwalk, and the city’s unique neighborhoods (Wrigleyville sounds like a fun place to visit). And I will be sure to indulge in the best Chicago-style pizza and a Chicago Dog or two.
 
I fully expect Chicago will overwhelm me with everything it has to offer, which is why I only purchased a one-day pass for AIA A’22. Even though the conference schedule spans from Wednesday through Saturday, I selected Thursday as my sole day at the McCormick Place convention center. I learned during my trip to New York to attend the 2018 Conference on Architecture that I primarily wanted to take in the city, as opposed to spending precious days inside an antiseptic meeting hall. My one regret with my decision to only attend A’22 on Thursday was the late announcement that former president Barack Obama is set to speak at the conference on Friday. I will see if I can find a way to get in without shelling out big bucks for another full day pass.
 
Look forward to future posts documenting highlights from my trip to Chicago, that toddlin’ town.

The Downtown Riverfront Park is Open!

View looking west from the river overlook at the east terminus of 5th Avenue (all photos are by me).

The City of Eugene celebrated the grand opening of the new Downtown Riverfront Park this weekend. My wife and I took advantage of a brief break in Saturday’s wet weather to check out Eugene’s latest attraction. Having now walked through the mostly finished product, I will share a few thoughts about it.

 

The City of Eugene and Eugene Water & Electric Board first discussed the potential of a new park as part of the greater Downtown Riverfront redevelopment in 2008; I have tracked its design progress ever since. Though city staff have always envisioned the Downtown Riverfront Park as “urban in character,” it most importantly reestablishes the primacy of the Willamette River as a defining natural feature within Eugene’s urban core. Given its central location, it is destined to become a highlight for users of the Ruth Bascom Riverbank Path System.

Looking east from the river overlook at 5th Avenue

 

The power of the Willamette River—swollen by unseasonably high rainfalls—was in full evidence during our visit. Views from the new park’s overlooks highlighted the pronounced bend of the river through a consequential stretch of its meandering course northward. We enjoyed the riverbank and natural habitat enhancements, which already appeared well-established and mature. In the future, when the full scope of the Downtown Riverfront transformation is complete, the naturalistic treatment of the riverbank and the light touch of the pedestrian and bicycle paths that parallel it will complement the vertical development of the new neighborhood.

  

The City of Eugene selected the Portland landscape architecture firm of Walker Macy as its prime design consultant for the Downtown Riverfront Park. Echoing the City’s perspective, the firm characterizes its design as a “signature urban park.” Walker Macy also worked on the related upland infrastructure and streetscape design, which included significant stormwater treatment and phytoremediation through expansive rain gardens. As built, the park’s design reflects the considerable input Walker Macy received from members of the public during a series of open workshops (some of which I attended).  

 

Site Plan by Walker Macy.

Looking west toward the former EWEB headquarters. 

Though linear and shallow in proportions, the park does pack a lot into a small area.

 

Walker Macy’s design includes layers of varied treatment that echo the line of the river’s course:  pedestrian and bicycle paths, a boardwalk, guardrails, rain gardens, light fixtures, assortments of native plantings, and more. These layers visually enrich the linear park by means of texture, material, and color. Rather than an abrupt demarcation between the natural and the machine-made, the layered treatment presents a gradated transition.

SubSupra

 

A prominent feature of the park is a shiny pavilion adjacent to the river outlook at the east terminus of the newly extended 5th Avenue. Entitled SubSupra, the sculptural, reflective form is the work of Jill Anholt Studio. According to Anholt’s website, the pavilion “brings the undulating depth and shape of the Willamette River’s underwater terrain to shore where it becomes a dramatic and iconic gathering space at the river’s edge” that captures the “transformative and infinitely reflective character of the water itself.”   

 

While SubSupra does suggest shimmering movement and fluidity, its four legs appear clumsy and lacking in grace, and the supporting framing above is awkwardly visible from certain vantages. I don’t know how I might have solved the problem of holding up the canopy differently (skyhooks, maybe?) so perhaps I should reserve judgment.

 

Taking in the view from one of the new shelters along the riverfront path.

Collaborating with Walker Macy’s team, 2fORM Architecture designed the two steel and wood shelters that provide seating at strategic points along the pedestrian path. I like how the staggered benches in the larger of the two allows unrelated individuals, couples, or families to comfortably occupy it at the same time. I read somewhere that 2fORM purposely shaped the parabolic roof forms to reflect the sounds of the river down those seated below.

Interpretive art integrated into the deck drainage at one of the river overlooks. Click to enlarge the image and read the words cast in bronze, which refer to the history of the site as the previous EWEB service yard. 

 

We discovered several integrated art pieces; I am sure we missed others. A future piece will be a sculptural bronze water fountain that will frame views across the river to Alton Baker Park. According to the City’s project website, the proposed fountain (to be installed later this year) will tell the story of Eugene’s first predominantly African-American neighborhood, which the City razed to make way for the construction of the Ferry Street Bridge.

River overlook.

 A river runs through the city.

The new Downtown Riverfront Park is just a part of the yet-to-be realized larger vision for an active and accessible riverfront district and community destination. We should appreciate that at only three acres in total area, the Riverfront Park is a relatively small, albeit important, component of the 16-acre development. A future mix of complementary uses promise to more fully bring the city to the river. Notably, the park will be contiguous with the 1-acre plaza that will serve as a centerpiece of the Downtown Riverfront neighborhood. The developer, Atkins Dame, says construction of the hundreds of new housing units and new retail spaces will begin this fall, with total buildout scheduled to occur in 2025. Additionally, a team led by Mark Miksis of deChase Miksis Development and Arcimoto CEO Mark Frohnmayer propose to turn the shuttered EWEB steam plant into a vibrant, multi-use facility.  

 

Notwithstanding the incomplete state of the overall development, I feel comfortable assessing the park’s role in helping connect downtown Eugene to the Willamette River. Standing on its own merits, the Downtown Riverfront Park already accomplishes much. It restores the continuity of the Ruth Bascom Riverbank Path. It offers access to and views of the river. Its design features enhance and protect the natural habitats at the rivers’ edge. Most importantly, the new Downtown Riverfront Park will heighten our awareness of the historically significant river that courses through the heart of our city. Upon completion and full occupancy of the new housing and retail development that will border it, I have confidence the Downtown Riverfront Park will vindicate the City of Eugene’s efforts to create a regional destination where the river meets the city. 

*     *     *     *     *     *

The Downtown Riverfront Park is hosting a free fan festival July 15-24 for visitors and local community members during the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field. The festival may be a perfect opportunity for you to explore the new park if you have not done so beforehand.

 

Market Day

 

Inside the Lane County Farmers Market Pavilion, opening day June 4, 2022 (all photos are mine).

For many years, a go-to weekend activity for me and my wife has been heading downtown to grab lunch at the Saturday Market International Food Court (our favorite menu item is Afghani Cuisine’s Qabuli Pilaf) and visiting the Lane County Farmers Market to pick up fresh produce; however, COVID-19 disrupted this comfortable routine. So too did the first phase of the Eugene Town Square redevelopment, which temporarily displaced the Farmers Market to a location on East Fifth Avenue. Yesterday’s opening of the new Lane County Farmers Market Pavilion and Plaza marked the welcome return of the market to its historical location at 8th and Oak. We happily joined thousands of others to experience the market in its new venue on opening day.
 
Of course, I’ve been following and reporting on the reimagining of the Farmers Market as part of a refreshed Eugene Town Square for years now. Most recently, I documented the design and construction progress of the Market Pavilion and Plaza. The new Eugene City Hall and reworking of the southwest and southeast park blocks remain future projects, but if our visit on the first day of the market on the former site of the razed "butterfly lot" parking structure was any indication, it is clear the City of Eugene’s vision of a revitalized Town Square is already being validated.(1)

View from the Market Plaza looking toward the Pavilion.

 
It was a pleasure to stroll through the pavilion and the Market Plaza area on an unseasonably cool and damp Saturday in June. The new building did not clamor for my attention; instead, its simple, commodious form provided an unassuming backdrop for the dozens of vendors (inside and out) selling their locally grown farm products. I suspect this is exactly how the team of FFA Architecture & Interiors and Cameron McCarthy Landscape Architecture & Planning envisioned their design. I know my attention focused more upon the offerings of the various booths. I enjoyed being part of the bustle of others likewise enjoying their time at the market. It was as if the architecture receded from my view, which of course is surprising because I normally cannot avoid seeing any new building firstly through the eyes of an architect.
 
The addition of absorbent wall panels on the west wall of the pavilion’s interior dampened the acoustic reverberance that was very much evident during the construction-period tour I attended a few months ago. During that tour, the roll-up doors were closed and protected behind translucent visqueen. With the market operating, all the generous doors were held open, so the flow and views between the pavilion and the plaza were unimpeded. West Park Street remains an important part of the market, so the design did not scrimp on providing large openings to the pavilion from that side. The polycarbonate skin cladding the upper walls provided ample, glare-free daylight on an overcast day.

The roof structure is comprised of mass-timber panels supported by glulam beams. The floor is polished concrete.

 

The Market Plaza looking east from the Pavilion.

The plaza’s use of decomposed granite may prove slightly problematic. While comfortable underfoot and generally successful at absorbing rainfall, when wet it clings to shoes, which track the material about and into the pavilion.
 
Oddly, an overall impression I had of the new Farmers Market Pavilion and Plaza is that the new facility has been a downtown fixture for years already. My mind says, “I’ve seen this before.” Of course, the farmers market traces its history on this same site back more than a century, but this current incarnation is entirely original. Perhaps I should chalk up my sense of its familiarity to how inevitable and appropriate the market’s new home has turned out to be.
 
It will be interesting to see how the Lane County Farmers Market organization and the City of Eugene program the pavilion and plaza beyond its primary use as a location for small, local farms to sell fresh, nutritious foods. The plan has always been that it will be a multifunction community space.
 
Though yesterday was its first day in operation, the new Market Pavilion and Plaza’s grand opening celebration will take place on Sunday, June 26 between noon and 4:30 PM. That free event will feature live music, food trucks, speakers, information from partner organizations, and family-friendly activities.

(1)  Of course, my statement presumes the City will eventually fully realize that vision, something very much in question at the moment: To Build or To Buy? – Eugene Weekly 

Innocence Lost

 
(Photo credit: VOA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

 
The terrifying familiarity this past week of yet another mass shooting at a school—this time at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on May 24—shocked the nation. Some believe American society is becoming numb to gun violence, but the outpouring of grief and anger since word came of the twenty-one lives claimed by a homicidal young gunman in Uvalde is real and profound. So is the frustration we all endure in the face of predictable inaction by elected officials and the inevitability of history repeating itself.
 
The fact active shooter drills now figure prominently in virtually every child’s experience, as well as the renewed calls for “hardening” our schools and arming teachers, is nothing less than tragic. The agonizing fallout of mass shooting events most notably includes their pernicious impact upon the mental health of children. Researchers cite increasing evidence that exposure to actual gun violence or its threat leads to chronic trauma (PTSD), increased anxiety and paranoia, and inhibited brain development among some. Unabated, the adverse societal costs will continue to grow incalculably.    
 
The responses to mass shootings in our schools are manifold, including calls to do everything possible to prevent a repeat occurrence. Of course, proactive design measures to enhance school safety are among these responses. Common sense, strategic design principles—such as strictly controlled entrances, hiding spaces, and escape routes in case of an emergency—are already familiar to architects like me who are involved in the design of schools. So too is our charge to implement these solutions in ways that do not result in buildings that resemble fortresses or prisons more than the nurturing places for learning and socialization they should be, first and foremost.    
 
But as Blair Kamin (the former architecture critic for the Chicago Tribune) wrote in 2019 about how the design for a new high school in the small community of Fruitport, Michigan prioritized thwarting active shooters, there’s only so much architecture can do to prevent another Thurston High School, Columbine High School, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, or Robb Elementary School tragedy.(1) The bottom line is school design is by no means the real solution to a confoundingly intractable problem.
 
These high-profile events demand that school districts across the country allocate their limited resources toward implementing well-intended security measures, rather than directly investing in teaching and education. Communities across the nation have spent and will continue to spend billions of dollars in efforts to deter murderously deranged shooters, money that otherwise might reward and support the curiosity, intellect, creativity, and brilliance of young minds.
 
AIA EVP/Chief Executive Officer Lakisha Woods issued the following statement on behalf of the American Institute of Architects in response to last Tuesday’s heartrending news:
 
This is a time of reflection. There are no words that can adequately express our compassion or sorrow for the families touched by the unspeakable and senseless tragedy visited on Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas this week. Yet again, we are reminded that life is precious and impermanent, that we must cherish the moments we have with those who we hold most dear, and that we are all connected because we are all human.
 
The outpouring of love, concern, and sorrow following this latest school shooting is a small light in the darkness reminding us of what’s best about humanity—compassion, courage, and understanding. Our collective, and compounding traumas—school shootings, community violence, armed conflicts around the world, a global pandemic and epidemic of mental health issues, and inequity in society make it more important than ever to prioritize kindness, empathy, and grace. That can be hard because this era of trauma can weaken our connections to our best selves, our family, friends, and community.
 
The AIA is speaking out because the built world touches everyone’s life and because our members use the power of design to make a positive difference every day. The AIA is speaking out to put voice to our members’ collective sorrow and steadfast resolve to achieve a positive difference through the power of design.
 
That is why we all must work to advance a vision of society that alienates no one and empowers everyone equitably. We can realize that vision by remembering that of all the titles we may have—spouse, sibling, friend, coworker—the one appellation that matters the most is being human.

As we find ways to cope with this latest trauma, let’s take a few minutes over the long Memorial Day weekend to reflect on how we can work together to create, enhance, promote, and protect a sense of community, connection, and sense of belonging, for everyone, everywhere in our daily lives and through our work in communities . . . “
 
Regrettably, the timid AIA statement offers little more than the empty “thoughts and prayers” so often extended by those who lack the real empathy or political courage to legislate even the most sensible and modest of changes. The scornful dissent from many AIA members was immediate and pointed:

 

As Paul Goldberger says rightfully, AIA National’s position is worse than banal. And as Kriston Capps warns, the Uvalde massacre is an issue for architects because some politicians will parrot Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s call for radical changes to school building standards. I know in the absence of action on other fronts, any such changes will fail to meaningfully reduce or eliminate the reasons why mass killings occur.
 
Tellingly, AIA’s Committee on Architecture for Education Twitter account was locked after taking a much less equivocal stance than the parent organization about gun violence:

 

 

I find the divisiveness of the current discourse on school security and the reticence of some to assume a moral stance in response to mass shootings dismaying. That such a discussion is even necessary and at the forefront of our thinking when we design schools is perhaps most disheartening.
 
I’m saddened not only by the fact a gunman armed to the teeth took the lives of nineteen young third & fourth graders and two educators, and the fact mass shootings are a reality we must confront, but also by the collateral damage these horrific events inflict. Despair and fear of being shot should not be a constant for students and teachers, nor should parents have to worry unceasingly for the safety of their children, and yet here we stand. My memories of school are filled with joy, optimism, and innocence. Today’s youngsters live with the pall of guns in schools hanging over them. Count me among those demanding real change and the limitation of unfettered access to semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines.
 
 
(1)    The litany of school shootings is somber evidence of an almost uniquely American malignancy.