• Login / Join
  • About
  • •
  • Contact
  • •
  • Advertising
bustler logo
bustler logo
  • News
  • Competitions
  • Events
  • Bustler is powered by Archinect
  • Sign up for Bustler's Email Newsletters

  • Follow these Bustler feeds:

  • Search

    Search in

  • Submit

    What are you submitting?

    News Pitch
    Competition
    Event
  • Login / Join
  • News|Competitions|Events
  • Search
    | Submit
    | Follow
  • Search in

    What are you submitting?

    News Pitch
    Competition
    Event

    Follow these Bustler feeds:

  • About|Contact|Advertising
  • Login / Join
Tagged: chicago prize

Thompson Center Design Ideas Competition: three winners of the 2021 Chicago Prize announced

By Josh Niland|

Tuesday, Sep 14, 2021

Thompson Center exterior. Image courtesy JAHN.

The Chicago Architecture Center and Chicago Architectural Club have announced the winners of the Thompson Center Design Ideas Competition. 

The competition was created to give the historic State of Illinois Thompson Center new life while maintaining its architectural and public character. The brief was open to anyone with a vision for the Center, including design professionals, artists, and students.

Winning designs from Eastman Lee, Solomon Cordwell Buenz, and Perkins&Will reimagine Helmut Jahn’s endangered 1984 office building in adaptive reuse schemes that would allow for the preservation of one of Chicago’s most visible landmarks.

“These three design proposals represent distinct, exciting alternative futures for Helmut Jahn’s iconic, Postmodern masterpiece,” said Landmarks Illinois President and one of the jurors, Bonnie McDonald. “The competition proves how, with creativity, the Thompson Center has lasting value — be it through a mixed-use, civic and/or recreational destination as the winning designs imagine. The failure to protect and adapt this one-of-a-kind space would be short-sighted and rob Chicago of one of its greatest architectural achievements.”

Thompson Center lobby. Image courtesy JAHN.

Current plans for the Center include a proposal to add a supertall tower to the existing structure. Most of the debate surrounds the costs of maintaining the 37-yeat-old building. Some have even opined that the building should be razed rather than attempting a reuse scheme, though many in the city’s architectural community support some kind of redevelopment effort once the postponed sale of the building becomes final.

The three winners each offer common visions of public space, while finalist designs would have focused more on the building’s atrium and creating arts spaces throughout the 1.5-million-square-foot facility. 

Eastman Lee’s design would place a new thermal enclosure behind the existing glass-curtain wall with a vertical neighborhood comprised of zoned residential, commercial, and rooftop garden spaces connected by biophilic elements that unite each element of the building’s newly formed “vertical loop.”

"Offset - The Vertical Loop" proposal by Eastman Lee.
"Offset - The Vertical Loop" proposal by Eastman Lee.

Solomon Cordwell Buen’s submission would create an academic center where Chicago-area students can come to learn about public policy and civic engagement in an homage to the Center’s original purpose as office space for the Illinois state government. 

"One Chicago School" by Solomon Cordwell Buen.
"One Chicago School" by Solomon Cordwell Buen.

The design by Perkins + Will calls for a transformation of the space’s interior into a waterpark with active ground-level programs and an adjoining hotel.  

"Public Pool" proposal by Perkins&Will.
"Public Pool" proposal by Perkins&Will.

“The Thompson Center is a significant public space in Chicago’s urban realm, and participating in this ideas competition was a tremendous opportunity to make the case for the Center’s reuse and preservation while re-imagining what public space can be,” the CAC's announcement quotes David Rader, a designer at Perkins&Will.

Jurors included industry leaders like Carol Ross Barney and Thomas Heatherwick. The winners and four finalist designs will be on view now through the end of October at a pop-up exhibit in the CAC’s East Wacker Drive galleries. A forum on the future of the Thompson Center has been planned for early November. 

Additional images of the winning schemes can be viewed in the gallery below.

RELATED COMPETITION 2021 CHICAGO PRIZE: JAMES R. THOMPSON CENTER
RELATED NEWS The 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial announces its Student Ideas Competition winners

Related

thompson center ● chicago ● illinois ● competition ● usa ● chicago architecture center ● chicago architecture club ● adaptive reuse ● preservation ● helmut jahn ● chicago prize
Perkins&Will
Perkins&Will Hiring!
JAHN
JAHN
Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB)
Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB)

Share

  • Follow

    0 Comments

  • Comment as :

Thompson Center Design Ideas Competition: three winners of the 2021 Chicago Prize announced

“CONNECT THE DOTS” wins 2018 Chicago Prize: Crossing the Line competition

Closer look at 2016 Chicago Prize: On the Edge winner, “Lattices on the Drive”

A glimpse at a transparency-driven Obama Presidential Library competition entry

Informal Office transforms Obama Presidential Library into social hub for Chicago Prize 2014

Chicago Prize 2014 results: Imagining Obama's Presidential Library

CALL FOR ENTRIES: What do you think the Obama Presidential Library should look like?

Sign up for Bustler's Email Newsletters

Next page » Loading

Thompson Center Design Ideas Competition: three winners of the 2021 Chicago Prize announced

By Josh Niland|

Tuesday, Sep 14, 2021

Share

Thompson Center exterior. Image courtesy JAHN.

Related

thompson center ● chicago ● illinois ● competition ● usa ● chicago architecture center ● chicago architecture club ● adaptive reuse ● preservation ● helmut jahn ● chicago prize
Perkins&Will
Perkins&Will Hiring!
JAHN
JAHN
Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB)
Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB)

The Chicago Architecture Center and Chicago Architectural Club have announced the winners of the Thompson Center Design Ideas Competition. 

The competition was created to give the historic State of Illinois Thompson Center new life while maintaining its architectural and public character. The brief was open to anyone with a vision for the Center, including design professionals, artists, and students.

Winning designs from Eastman Lee, Solomon Cordwell Buenz, and Perkins&Will reimagine Helmut Jahn’s endangered 1984 office building in adaptive reuse schemes that would allow for the preservation of one of Chicago’s most visible landmarks.

“These three design proposals represent distinct, exciting alternative futures for Helmut Jahn’s iconic, Postmodern masterpiece,” said Landmarks Illinois President and one of the jurors, Bonnie McDonald. “The competition proves how, with creativity, the Thompson Center has lasting value — be it through a mixed-use, civic and/or recreational destination as the winning designs imagine. The failure to protect and adapt this one-of-a-kind space would be short-sighted and rob Chicago of one of its greatest architectural achievements.”

Thompson Center lobby. Image courtesy JAHN.

Current plans for the Center include a proposal to add a supertall tower to the existing structure. Most of the debate surrounds the costs of maintaining the 37-yeat-old building. Some have even opined that the building should be razed rather than attempting a reuse scheme, though many in the city’s architectural community support some kind of redevelopment effort once the postponed sale of the building becomes final.

The three winners each offer common visions of public space, while finalist designs would have focused more on the building’s atrium and creating arts spaces throughout the 1.5-million-square-foot facility. 

Eastman Lee’s design would place a new thermal enclosure behind the existing glass-curtain wall with a vertical neighborhood comprised of zoned residential, commercial, and rooftop garden spaces connected by biophilic elements that unite each element of the building’s newly formed “vertical loop.”

"Offset - The Vertical Loop" proposal by Eastman Lee.
"Offset - The Vertical Loop" proposal by Eastman Lee.

Solomon Cordwell Buen’s submission would create an academic center where Chicago-area students can come to learn about public policy and civic engagement in an homage to the Center’s original purpose as office space for the Illinois state government. 

"One Chicago School" by Solomon Cordwell Buen.
"One Chicago School" by Solomon Cordwell Buen.

The design by Perkins + Will calls for a transformation of the space’s interior into a waterpark with active ground-level programs and an adjoining hotel.  

"Public Pool" proposal by Perkins&Will.
"Public Pool" proposal by Perkins&Will.

“The Thompson Center is a significant public space in Chicago’s urban realm, and participating in this ideas competition was a tremendous opportunity to make the case for the Center’s reuse and preservation while re-imagining what public space can be,” the CAC's announcement quotes David Rader, a designer at Perkins&Will.

Jurors included industry leaders like Carol Ross Barney and Thomas Heatherwick. The winners and four finalist designs will be on view now through the end of October at a pop-up exhibit in the CAC’s East Wacker Drive galleries. A forum on the future of the Thompson Center has been planned for early November. 

Additional images of the winning schemes can be viewed in the gallery below.

RELATED COMPETITION 2021 CHICAGO PRIZE: JAMES R. THOMPSON CENTER
RELATED NEWS The 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial announces its Student Ideas Competition winners

Share

  • Follow

    0 Comments

  • Comment as :

Archinect JobsArchinect Jobs

The Archinect Job Board attracts the world's top architectural design talents.

VIEW ALL JOBS POST A JOB

Intermediate Architect/Designer

Tom Wiscombe Architecture

Intermediate Architect/Designer

Los Angeles, CA, US

Architectural Designer

Richärd Kennedy Architects

Architectural Designer

Phoenix, AZ, US

Planning Project Manager (Hybrid)

Dahlin Group Architecture Planning

Planning Project Manager (Hybrid)

Pleasanton, CA, US

Freelance Graphic Designer

Alex Pettas Architecture

Freelance Graphic Designer

Los Angeles, CA, US

Interior Designer

Blair + Mui Dowd Architects

Interior Designer

New York, NY, US

Experienced Residential Architect

Kovac Design Studio

Experienced Residential Architect

Los Angeles, CA, US

Project Architect - Market Rate and Affordable Housing

GGLO

Project Architect - Market Rate and Affordable Housing

Los Angeles, CA, US

Architectural Designer (1-4 Years Experience)

Bates Masi + Architects

Architectural Designer (1-4 Years Experience)

East Hampton, NY, US

Project Architect Responsible for QA/QC – Part-Time 20-24 hours/week

KSS Architects, LLP

Project Architect Responsible for QA/QC – Part-Time 20-24 hours/week

Philadelphia, PA, US

Intermediate/Junior Architect/Project Manager - High End Residential

M. Ziemke Architecture

Intermediate/Junior Architect/Project Manager - High End Residential

New York, NY, US

Next page » Loading