Chicago Architecture Center features 42 design proposals in a new exhibition that addresses 'missing middle density' housing

An exhibition featuring proposals from some of Chicago’s biggest-name firms is gracing the Chicago Architecture Center as part of Phase 2 of its Come Home Initiative. 

The initiative is a new competition that seeks to provide a case study of “missing middle” housing designs that will aid the delivery of 30-100 units to neighborhoods located in the city’s South and West Sides. The exhibition opened earlier this month and will showcase the 42 design proposals that were selected for the Come Home Chicago: Missing Middle Infill Housing Competition. 

The exhibition closes on March 26th with the selection of proposals headed to Phase 3 of the competition, which will in the end produce a pattern book to be used by city planners. A participatory feedback portal is also included as part of the exhibition. Access to the portal can be found here. 

Thanks to an RFQ launched in December 2022, local and national architecture firms were asked to submit design solutions for four housing types: Single-Family Homes, 2- and 3-flats, Rowhouses, and 6-flats set in Auburn Gresham, Bronzeville, East Garfield Park, Englewood, Humboldt Park, and Woodlawn, areas. The CAC says each of the designs is meant to attract a community development model that can attract residents “back home” as tied to the initiative's three core principles. 

“Chicago is at the forefront of housing design for 21st-century living,” said Eleanor Esser Gorski, CEO of the Chicago Architecture Center.” Whether it’s the return to multigenerational housing or the rise of the gig economy and micro-mobility, the way people live has evolved—and housing must evolve with it. The CAC is proud to be part of an initiative that calls for fresh, innovative ideas and partners with the community to tell us what they would want to “come home to” in their neighborhood.”

Designs from firms such as NADAA, Nia Architects, Frida Escobedo Studio, Future Firm, Höweler + Yoon, Ross Barney Architects, JAHN, Dirk Denison Architects, Marlon Blackwell Architects, Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO, and many others will be displayed as they present their solutions for six different neighborhoods in the city of Chicago.

View the names of all 42 shortlisted firms below, as well as a collection of design proposals.

• ACDF Architecture 
• Architecture for Public Benefit 
• Peter Rose + Partners 
• CAMESgibson
• Canopy Architecture and Design
• Chicago Design Office
• Civic Projects Architecture + Marlon Blackwell Architects 

• DAAM
• David Baker Architects 
• Dirk Denison Architects
• DMAC Architecture & Interiors
• DNA Architecture & Design, Inc. 

• Frida Escobedo Studio 
• Future Firm
• Höweler + Yoon 
• Hufft 
• Jahn
• kevin daly Architects 

• ParkFowler Plus
• PRODUCTORA 
• Range Design & Architecture
• Ross Barney Architects
• Sheehan Nagle Hartray Architects
• Studio Becker Xu
• Studio Sean Canty, LLC + Office III

• Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO 
• TBDA + Blacks in Green
• UrbanLab + The Available City
• Valerio Dewalt Train
• Vladimir Radutny Architects
• von Weise Associates

• Merge Architects
• MOS
• NADAAA 
• nARCHITECTS
• New Office
• Nia Architects + Yu & Associates Collaborative
• OJT 

• Krueck Sexton Partners
•  Kwong Von Glinow
•  Lamar Johnson Collaborative
•  Latent
•  Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects [LOHA] 

Learn more about all 42 shortlisted teams and their work here. A participatory feedback portal that is open to the public is also included as part of the exhibition. Access to the portal can be found here.