PierESCAPE Navy Pier Centennial Vision
Designed in collaboration with Martha Schwartz Partners and Solomon Cordwell Buenz, this project—one of five finalists in a high-profile international competition—proposed strengthening the Pier’s civic aspect with extensive new uses and spaces to make it a truly integral part of the city.
Navy Pier is the Midwest’s biggest tourist attraction, but its 1990s renovation as a festival marketplace was heavily commercial and architecturally underachieving. We were asked to reinvent the exterior spaces at both ends and along the length of the Pier to draw broader audiences. Our crucial move was a new archipelago of floating docks along the southern edge that supported a spectrum of year-round activity, from sunbathing to ice sculpture.
Design aspects
The formerly amorphous entry to the Pier was divided into three distinct areas: an arrival plaza, a wetlands park, and a depot for city and tour buses. The length of the Pier itself is dramatized with a row of geometrical lighting towers, referred to as “The Porch,” that march westward, tying into the city.
The tour boat moorings that block the views of the Chicago skyline were gathered into a single zone, and the underused amusement park on the upper level was reanimated with improved access and curvaceous landscaping. The Crystal Gardens was reimagined as a Children’s Park capable of hosting special events. At the easternmost point, new terraces dipped into the lake, and decks featured fountains, large public art, and a spa with hot springs.
While not the winning scheme, our design was very well received by both the public and critics—Blair Kamin of the Chicago Tribune deemed it “Best of the Big Moves.”
Key aspects:
- Crossing the Waters into Gateway Park
- Taking it Over the Edge into South Dock Park
- Getting Up to Get Down at Pier Park
- Going Through the Looking Glass in Crystal Garden
- Taking the Plunge at East Edge Park
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The plan
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