Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Urban Rivers & Omni Ecosystems

“Re-Ground” delves into restoration grounded in nature’s logic, minimizing human interventions like levees in favor of ecological rejuvenation. Such ecological revival of rivers can be approached in straightforward, scalable ways.

 

The Chicago River, tainted and made inaccessible post-industrialization in the 1850s, has embarked on a 21st-century rejuvenation journey, repurposing the riverfront as a civic expanse. In an effort to revert the river to its natural wetland habitat from the last ice age, SOM in collaboration with Urban Rivers designed a sprawling 2,000-square-foot floating eco-park.

 

The “Wild Mile” initiative aspired to foster community engagement, amplify river access, and craft an environment where nature and wildlife flourish. This undertaking involved pinpointing and reviving native plant species across diverse river stretches. Central to the design approach is the modularity, enabling components to be merged and extended. Features such as floating modular platforms, tethered habitats, access ramps, observation decks, and docking units can be scaled and modified based on local demand and financial constraints. This showcases a blueprint for reinstating natural habitats utilizing a replicable design that doesn’t always hinge on cutting-edge technology.

 

- Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is a collective of architects, designers, engineers, and planners working together to build a better future. They find innovative solutions to the complex challenges facing cities around the world―seeking always to create harmony between the built and natural environment. SOM is targeting net-zero whole-life carbon in 100 percent of our active design work by 2040. Urban Rivers is a passionate group of ecologists, entrepreneurs, and public servants with a collective background that spans world-renowned organizations, businesses, and institutions. They believe that transforming urban waterways into wildlife sanctuaries is not only an important environmental mission but also a critical social one.

Omni Ecosystems integrates science and design into working landscapes to improve resiliency within the built environment and empower healthier, happier humans.

 

Full Team List: SOM, Urban Rivers, Omni Ecosystems, Tetra Tech, Near North Unity Program, O-H Community Partners, d’Escoto Inc.