Pierscape at Navy Pier Phase II Design Team Organization + ...

Design Approach +
Philosophy
44
Scale formalizes relationships between the built environment and the human form:
between the Pier and the skyline: between the lakefront and the Pier: between scene
and seen. Currently, the visual and physical relationships are extremely compromised.
Along much of the southern side of the pier, giant boats become the defacto façade,
obstructing views in both directions. The relatively narrow pedestrian walkway is
cluttered with kiosks, ticket booths, sandwich boards, food stands, and queues,
further delimiting the scale and scope of perceptual experience. Pedestrians are kept
within 20’ of the water’s edge! This situation is easily remedied by reorganizing the
various activities that take place there, reconfiguring the space to establish a visible,
if not physical, relationship to the lake: the Pier’s raison d’être and attribute that is
definitively Chicago.
Team X envisions a Pierscape that is at once cohesive and
diverse. The whole being greater than the sum of its parts, with
each part a whole unto itself.
Gateway Park will embody the tenor and spirit of the varied but no less interconnected
spaces and places that comprise the Navy Pier, and those that adjoin it: Ohio
beach, Monroe Harbor, the Chicago River, Milton Olive Park, Navy Pier Park, Lake
Shore Drive, Millennium Park, the lakefront trail, sidewalks, bridges, and arterial
streets. In the interest of sustainability, Team X will seek opportunities to resposition
and augment existing materials: earth, water, and plants: with an eye to creating a
place that exemplifies the majesty of Chicago, as the Promenade in Central Park
exemplifies the grandeur of Manahattan.
Gateway Park is now essentially a green transit zone, and not a very functional one at
that. We envision a multi-modal plaza that accommodates various modes of vehicular
and pedestrian traffic, and that also serves as a hospitable place of welcome, reception,
even respite.
Crystal Garden and Pier Park are the only spaces that afford north-south views.
Similar to other areas along the Pier, both the interior and exterior groundplanes are
unnecessarily cluttered. To fully experience the splendor and scale of the Crystal
Garden pavilion and the Ferris Wheel, obstacles need to be re- moved and connections
to the South Dock have to be accentuated, and links between the Crystal
Garden and Pier Park have to be re-articulated.