UrbanLab explained

UrbanLab
Architects:Martin Felsen, FAIA
Headquarters:Chicago, Illinois, United States
Founded:2001

UrbanLab is an American architecture and urban design firm with headquarters in Chicago. Founded by Martin Felsen, FAIA, and Sarah Dunn in 2001, the office is known for its focus on sustainability, creative experimentation and a collaborative approach to buildings, spaces and cities.

Background

UrbanLab's projects range in scale from houses such as the Hennepin, Illinois, Residence,[1] mixed-use residential and commercial buildings such as Upton’s Naturals Headquarters,[2] public open spaces such as the Smart Museum of Art Courtyard [3] at the University of Chicago, and large scale, urban design projects such as Growing Water in Chicago[4] and a masterplan (13 square kilometers / 5 square miles) for the Yangming Lake region of Changde, China. UrbanLab was awarded the 2009 Latrobe Prize[5] by the American Institute of Architects, College of Fellows.

Growing Water

UrbanLab won a competition for the History Channel's City of the Future: A Design and Engineering Challenge.[6] The competition asked architects in three cities, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, to develop a conceptual plan for their city 100 years from now. The teams competed and a finalist for each city was named. In the final round of the competition, with the acclaimed architect Daniel Libeskind as master of ceremonies, UrbanLab was announced the national winner after a month-long online vote.

UrbanLab's project, Growing Water,[7] starts with the assumption that in 100 years that "water will be the new oil"[7] and envisions a Chicago that recycles 100 % of its waste water back into Lake Michigan. The project is inspired by Chicago's rich history including its boulevard system, the reversal of the Chicago River and the Deep Tunnel project.[7] The plan calls for new boulevards to be created that would channel waste water from buildings into greenhouse and wetland systems that would clean the water and send it back the lake while creating a new network of social and recreational spaces, new parks, and corridors. These new corridors would be termed "eco-boulevards" and be spaced about every half-mile in the city.[8]

Bowling

UrbanLab: Bowling is a new book about UrbanLab’s work written by Felsen and Dunn, published by Applied Research + Design. The book explores relationships and realities between cities, architecture and water. As populations steadily increase in cities, the world’s natural resources are consumed at ever-faster rates. The majority of the world’s populations live in countries where clean water supplies are dwindling, and these water shortages are also quickly translating into food shortages. What can designers do to avert looming water-related realities? UrbanLab: Bowling views potential water crises as opportunities to speculate on future urban design possibilities, especially in cities. Several projects are presented that take an ecological approach to re-thinking received urban design methodologies of addressing the design of water-related infrastructures in existing and new cities.

Awards and honors

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: New Grass Roots . November 2009 . . Ryan Blitstein . 25 April 2014.
    - Web site: Hennepin House . UrbanLab . 25 April 2014.
  2. Web site: In just 48 hours . June 2015 . Dwell . Luke Hopping . 18 September 2016.
    - Web site: Upton’s Naturals . UrbanLab . 25 April 2014.
  3. Web site: Sculpture Garden and Reception Hall . . 25 April 2014.
    - Web site: Courtyard at the Smart Museum . UrbanLab . 25 April 2014.
  4. Web site: Momentum Grows for Futuristic Scheme . 29 September 2008 . . David Sokol . 25 April 2014.
    - Web site: Growing Water . UrbanLab . 25 April 2014.
  5. Web site: AIA College of Fellows announces winner of 2009 Latrobe Prize . August 11, 2010 . . Matt Tinder . 25 April 2014.
  6. http://www.history.com/designchallenge/sweepstakes/ Engineering an Empire: A Design and Engineering Challenge
  7. Web site: Growing Water presentation.
  8. Web site: Henderson, Harold . Close Deep Tunnel . Chicago Reader . 11 May 2007.
  9. Web site: Chicago Firm Urban Design Winner . 9 February 2007 . . Robin Pogrebin . Robin Pogrebin. 25 April 2014.
  10. Web site: AIA Awards . 2007 . 25 April 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130614063250/http://www.aiachicago.org/special_features/2007DEA/awards.asp?subID=714 . 14 June 2013 . dead.
  11. Web site: Pitt making celebrity work for homes . 12 December 2007 . . Blair Kamin . 25 April 2014.
  12. Web site: AIA Awards . 2008 . 25 April 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140517132537/http://www.aiachicago.org/special_features/2008dea/awards.asp?subID=1179 . 17 May 2014 . dead.
  13. Web site: Global Visionaries WBEZ Press Release . 2 March 2009 . 25 April 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100730080752/http://www.evl.uic.edu/files/events/ChicagoGlobalVisionaries.pdf . 30 July 2010 . dead.
  14. Web site: AIA College of Fellows announces winner of 2009 Latrobe Prize . August 11, 2010 . . Matt Tinder . 25 April 2014.
  15. Web site: AIA Awards . 2009 . 25 April 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140221022200/http://www.aiachicago.org/special_features/2009DEA/awards.asp?catID=6 . 21 February 2014 . dead.
  16. Web site: AIA Awards . 2009 . 25 April 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140203104659/http://www.aiachicago.org/special_features/2009DEA/awards.asp?catID=1 . 3 February 2014 . dead.
  17. Web site: Workshopping at the 2010 Venice Biennale . 25 April 2014.
  18. Web site: UrbanLab . 2010-03-03 . . Julie V. Iovine . Iovine . Julie V. . 25 April 2014.
  19. Web site: 2010 Buckminster Fuller Challenge Finalists . 29 April 2010 . Bustler.net . 25 April 2014.
  20. Web site: AIA Awards . 2010 . 25 April 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130509041813/http://www.aiachicago.org/special_features/2010DEA/awards.asp?catID=2 . 9 May 2013 . dead.
  21. Web site: AIA Awards . 2011 . 25 April 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130424190930/http://www.aiachicago.org/special_features/2011DEA/awards.asp?appId=185 . 24 April 2013 . dead.
  22. Web site: Preview: Americans in Venice . 19 June 2012 . . Jayne Merkel . 25 April 2014.
  23. Web site: AIA Awards . 2013 . 25 April 2014 . https://archive.today/20140515103938/http://www.aiachicago.org/special_features/2013dea/awards.asp?appId=1005 . 15 May 2014 . dead.
  24. Web site: AIA Awards . 2014 . 5 November 2014.
  25. Web site: AIA Awards . 2014 . 5 November 2014.
  26. Web site: MCHAP Awards . 2015 . 18 September 2016.
  27. Web site: Bold New Visions . October 2015 . . Matt Shaw . 18 September 2016.
  28. Web site: AIA Awards . 2014 . 18 September 2016.

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