Ignite - Reinventing Thompson Center, Chicago

A beautiful idea or evocative image may stir our imagination quite an object, a building, or maybe a whole city. Yet, it’s the materiality that constitutes the good power of architecture, its ability to show a physical building into a very transcendental experience.
Let’s consider the way to improve buildings that we have already got instead of , as often happens, raze them to start out new ones from scratch. And when it involves handling recent buildings, yet unprotected by landmark status, there’s tons of freedom as far as how they might be transformed.One of the foremost iconic buildings in Chicago, James R. Thompson Center may be a case in point. Illinois state government’s decision to sell it for brand spanking new development puts this 35-year-old gem of late-20th century architecture in great danger.

CHALLENGE

It is quite clear that the Center’s original ambition to make a very grand civic space was a mismatch with its limited function from the outset. Occupied primarily by bureaucrats’ offices the building wasn’t accessible to the general public after working hours and on weekends. The government’s vision was never idealistic enough and, as a result, was destined to fail thanks to the building’s high maintenance cost, exacerbated by years of neglect.

The competition participants are asked to develop a replacement vision for the Thompson center, as an ingenious hub within the center of Chicago. the prevailing glass-and-steel structure comprises 1.2 million sq. Ft. Of space and so as to form the new complex feasible, proposed schemes should plan for a minimum of 2.5 million sq. Ft. Of space. Submissions should include a brief statement with a breakup of program outlines, plans, key section, and renderings.

Download the information related to this competition here.