You may have heard by now that for the past 8 weeks we’ve been busy over here at HOK preparing for the Pierscape at Navy Pier Design Competition. Joined by collaborating firms !melk and UrbanLab, the design was finally presented to the public on Tuesday.
The team included !melk., Urban Lab, Terry Guen Design Associates, Thirst, Zoe Ryan, Conservation Design Forum, HR&A Advisors, Magnusson Klemencic Associates, Sam Schwartz Engineering, Leni Schwendinger LIGHT projects, CMS Fountain Consultants, and Karin Bacon Enterprises.
We always see (and drool over) these competition entries, but very rarely do you get to peel back the covers and see what really goes into the preparation of these submissions, so we thought we’d give you all the HOK-eye-view of how this all went down.
1 – HEY! We like Navy Pier, we should help to redesign it! Upon the announcement of the competition we knew we were interested. With an office in Chicago since 1995 we like to consider ourselves hometowners. Of course, with any great project, we wanted some great collaboration partners, and found that in !melk and UrbanLab. We decided to do this thing.
2 – When the shortlist came out (WOW, 52 firms submitted!!) and we were on the list of 11 we were beyond thrilled. When, finally, the list of 5 finalist teams were announced, we couldn’t have been more pleased, or excited to get started!
3 – Now down to work: A bit into concept development and after an initial site-visit, a charrette was held in New York in the offices of !melk. The fluid collaboration of the team was evident from day one, but very helpful during that crucial charette. The views from the office were inspiring to the team and the constant flow of inspiration and teamwork quickly led to a very solid set of guiding principles. How did the teamwork happen so seamlessly when so often teams of this size and with designers of this caliber can go so wrong so quick? First, everyone knew their roles and were in it for equal credit. This can be so tricky – I mean, we’re all tied to design concepts, and the letting go and the open development can be the hardest part. Perhaps this was so seamless because of the second reason: there was strong mutual respect between partners. Each participant knew their strengths and weaknesses and knew that to move the project forward they needed to do the right thing at the right time. And lastly, but most importantly, there were strong shared values and shared aesthetic sense. These three things guided the process and are visible in the unity of the final scheme.
4 – The concept was presented to the public by Jerry van Eyck from !melk with the other team members available for questions afterwards. The idea was delivered to the public on January 31st to a standing room only crowd, and, frankly, we’re very proud of it! The decision of the selected team or teams will be made later this month.
The outcome of the effort is an exciting, educational and stylistic interpretation of the Great Lakes. The pier is broken into several iconic moments, starting off from the west with the Gateway Plaza. The plaza will be home to local markets and recreational opportunities. Visitors can progress along the pier via a curved promenade (we named it the Curl and the Waves) which peeks out over the southern edge of the pier and creates optimal opportunities for views of the city. In a central location of the pier will be the Shikaakwa Gardens, a magical place of discovery and wonder. At the eastern tip of the pier, the Edge, features chances to experience the lake directly including an elevated lawn (the Moraine), a diving and swimming pool (the Kettle), a lush Fish Resort, and a submerged Window into the lake.
The element getting lots of buzz is the glacier structure that would rising out of the water at the end of the pier. A sculptural piece that is lit at night, this landmark is intended to draw visitors both during summer months and in the winter, when it will be frozen by lake winds.
The intent is to create an exciting, educational and sustainable destination for locals and tourists alike, returning to Burnham’s original vision of a people’s pleasure pier.
We’ve enjoyed seeing all the comments flow in from Chicago media and blogs, and wanted to point out a few of our favorites:
The local Public Television channel, WTTW, did a great wrap up of the various submissions. Be sure to check out the 4:23 time mark for the breakdown of the !melk/HOK/UrbanLab scheme. Also, WTTW is hosting a chance for feedback, so comment away!
On the local ABC affiliate, WLS-TV Channel 7, got a few words from team member Yadiel Rivera from !melk.
The local NBC affiliate, Channel 5, even ran into our new favorite resident, a fan of the !melk/HOK/UrbanLab scheme.
And of course, the Chicago Tribune has been on top of the story and the rundown since the beginning. They have a great wrap up of all the schemes.
The boards developed by our team and the other teams are on display at the Chicago Architecture Foundation for public viewing and comment.
The entire team was great, and deserves a shoutout, so bravo to the full team!
The other 4 finalists are teams led by: AECOM/BIG Architects, Aedas Architects/Martha Schwartz, James Corner Field Operations and Xavier Vendrell Studio/Grimshaw Architects.
