Collaborative Visions of an Urban Future
At the turn of the 20th century Chicago was a thriving commercial center, but challenged by problems due to its own rapid growth. Business leaders in the Commercial Club of Chicago realized that the city needed a strategic plan and commissioned architect Daniel Burnham in 1909 to create the first "Plan for Chicago.” His plan largely addressed architecture and spatial planning and resulted in multi level highways, diagonal boulevards, and the Loop, Chicago’s downtown elevated train.
A new plan for future development
Nearly a century later, Chicago faces similar problems and The Commercial Club of Chicago again sponsored a contemporary plan for the city's future development called Chicago Metropolis 2020 to address 21st century life in the urban area. This plan addresses a broad range of issues from traffic congestion to early childhood education. It offers various constituencies informed choices for working together to make the region attractive and economically competitive in the future.
An artistic response to the regional plan
To respond to the plan, the Art Institute of Chicago organized a summer 2005 exhibit called 10 Visions showing architects’ reactions to and solutions for the Chicago Metropolis 2020 plan. The professional community providing these visions suggested including architecture student work from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Illinois Institute of Technology, and the University of Illinois Chicago campuses as one of the visions.
The students were charged with critiquing the new plan and envisioning different projects and developments to enhance it. The final product would be a DVD with 150-second “video and voiceover" presentations of the student proposals for the regional plan. Anders Nereim, chair of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects Department coordinated with his counterparts at the other schools to specify the scope of the work and its production parameters.
Using common tools for collaboration
The three schools use different computing platforms, including Macs and PC's, so the joint project depended on cross-platform tools such as those offered by Adobe for video production. Audio voice-overs and live video clips were captured using Adobe Premiere. Students represented their proposed structures with 3D models that were incorporated into video footage. The video editing was done primarily in Premiere because it offered a simple learning curve for the architecture students. Adobe After Effects was used for more exacting and dimensionally accurate compositing and clip speed manipulations. Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator were used for all stills and titles. Each video was accompanied in the exhibition by a printed explanatory wall panel composed in Illustrator that re-purposed the video content.
The students were not familiar with video editing at the project's inception, but they learned the skills they needed in just a few weeks. They were given strict instructions about format and file management in order to ensure consistent finished videos that could be combined into the final exhibition product. This workflow and presentation technology (NTSC video with voice over) has become part of all advanced architecture studios at the School of the Art Institute. Several of its graduate student projects are discussed below.
Multi-modal Transit
Jung Soo Kim focuses on creating a transit structure for El train commuters that would emphasize and connect the attractions of the city (opportunity and information) and those of the suburbs (open spaces and relaxation). She designed an overpass bridge leading to the Cumberland El train station with a roof garden and a train platform enhanced with computer screens. Two large screens display the relaxing influences of virtual nature and ten small ones display information about the urban destination allowing commuters making the transition from one sphere to the other to enjoy the advantages of both.
Watch the movie(QuickTime: 2:30 min).
Cross-Digital Divide
Caroline Keem explores the possibilities of increasing opportunities for lower-income Chicagoans by providing access to computer technology in public spaces. Her Chicago Area Network project includes special structures that house flexible components that can be configured in various ways for unique locations. The project includes message boards and community resource listings specific to each neighborhood. It’s intuitive interface offers even technophobes and technology have-nots access to networked information about educational and job opportunities, cultural events and neighborhood gatherings, and provides them the ability to make their voices equally heard.
Watch the movie(QuickTime: 2:40 min).
Rising to a worthy challenge
The Chicago Metropolis 2020 plan gave students a futuristic framework for conceiving architectural and product designs that can impact the lives of their fellow Chicagoans. They responded to the challenge with proposals that could improve habitation, strengthen neighborhoods, improve access to technology regardless of income, and enhance the commuting experience. While the plan provided fertile ground for their imaginations, video production tools gave the students a mode for virtually presenting their ideas in their own words and their own voices.
