Site / Site Design Group, LTD.
Chicago, United States
WebsiteSite design group, ltd. (site) is a nationally award-winning landscape architecture and urban design firm based in Chicago, Illinois. As landscape architects, urban designers, planners, arborists, architects, and creative thinkers, they are a staff of 47 diverse and innovative professionals. They are enlivened by their surroundings and strive to produce creative spaces that inspire, restore, and bring communities together.
As designers, creative thinkers, and engaged citizens, site understands the value of exterior environments that create a sense of place. Successful placemaking leads to the long-term care and use of these spaces by the public. This is site’s goal in all they do: to create spaces that are valued and sustained by the communities they reside within in order to maintain long-term relevance and use.
Using functional systems coupled with “out of the box” strategies, they work diligently with their clients to create spaces that excite and engage users, improve the pedestrian experience, strengthen community ties, conserve and enhance the site’s unique natural features, and push the boundaries of innovation and resiliency. The group was established in Chicago in 1990.
CAB 5 Contribution
Project Overview
Beneath Our Feet
In Beneath Our Feet, the bones of a typical park landscape give structure and form to dynamic, larger-than-life sculptural works within the Chicago Cultural Center’s monumental Yates Gallery. The finished landscapes we see throughout the city have been peeled back, revealing stark white foam blocks that serve as the base for a sculpture garden containing over a dozen full-sized works. The relationship between observer and participant breaks the fourth wall, inviting visitors to become part of the exhibit. For a richer sensory experience, guests remove their shoes as they enter the immersive landscape. This new perspective shines a spotlight on an often overlooked question: What really lies beneath our feet? Interactive components help visitors envision the lifecycle of a park, including its construction, and the translation of this gallery from indoors to out. Materials used in this exhibit will be repurposed into the construction of a real landscape in the city.
Venue
View moretool
Address
78 East Washington Street, Chicago, IL
Neighborhood
The Loop
Description
The Chicago Cultural Center serves as one of the main exhibition venue sites for CAB 5, featuring projects from more than 80 participants from ten countries.
Opened in 1897, the Chicago Cultural Center is a Chicago landmark building operated by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and is home to free cultural exhibits and programming year-round.