Winter Cover for the Nelson Algren Fountain at the Polish Triangle

WPB

WPB is the Special Service Area for the Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhoods of Chicago. The mission of WPB is to sustain and promote the prosperity and unique qualities of life of the Wicker Park/Bucktown neighborhood and commercial district, whilst preserving its diverse character for the benefit of its residents, visitors, and businesses through the wise and discerning investment of resources to enhance our public ways (www.wickerparkbucktown.org).

Wicker Park-Bucktown is a neighborhood that, according to one national magazine article, “has become shorthand for nonconformity and innovation.” The neighborhood cherishes its heritage as a richly diverse, vibrant immigrant melting pot and as a world-famous hotbed of new ideas in design, the environment, fashion, food, literature, music, new media, theater and visual arts.

Project:

To design, manufacture and install a new winter cover for the Nelson Algren Fountain located at the intersection of Ashland Avenue, Milwaukee Avenue and Division Street in Chicago, a.k.a. Polish Triangle. The RFP is a two-stage process: Stage One – Concept Competition and Stage Two – Final Design Proposals.

Purpose:

To make the pedestrian park in the middle of this busy intersection more inviting, safe and useful by replacing the current dilapidated plywood cover with one that is artistic, colorful, functional and reusable year after year. Like the fountain in warmer months, the new cover could itself be one of the welcoming attractions encouraging visitors to the neighborhood through the winter months, when the fountain is inactive. Designs that suggest functional uses for the fountain cover are encouraged. The new fountain cover could also incorporate lighting, whether for seasonal purposes or for general ambient lighting. Perhaps the new cover can incorporate sound (music). The fountain basin is approximately 18 feet in diameter.

More Information:
Request for Proposal (PDF)