To the intense curiosity of passersby, all summer long, barges and cranes have been fixtures along the Chicago River as a team of architects, engineers, builders, and city officials work side by side to bring the vision of a new Chicago Riverwalk to life. Sasaki is excited to share our significant progress in revitalizing the Riverwalk for improved connectivity and usability for the enjoyment of Chicagoans and visitors to this great city.
The Vision
Our goal is to create, for the first time, a continuous path along the river’s edge, running about one mile from Lake Street to Lake Michigan. Sasaki, in partnership with Ross Barney Architects and Benesch & Company, and supported by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Department of Transportation, envisions a number of new uses along the river that will transform the Riverwalk experience, including shallow banks for recreational boaters to come ashore, copious sculptural seating, interactive water features for families, and floating wetland gardens that are both beautiful and ecologically important.
Ultimately, we seek to capture the full potential of this small section of valuable Chicago real estate that has long been underutilized—in so doing, we hope other cities can see the tremendous potential in investing in critical, albeit small, urban spaces to invigorate city life, business, and tourism. To learn more about the project, click here.