Ellen Hao
“I got sent to jail for aggravated vehicular hijacking, by the graces of the universe.” – Darius Jones
Paradigm Shift
How Darius Jones became a farmer
Author: Ari Ephraim Feldman
Banking on a Bank
The Stony Island Arts Bank opens for… what, exactly?
Photo by Sara Pooley, Courtesy of Rebuild Foundation.
Gates has in recent years originated several structures on the South Side. This latest one is the largest, and has the highest profile and the best story.
Byproduct Blues
Amid increasing production and attempts at regulation, petroleum coke has drifted into the spotlight
LUKE WHITE
Spring finally came to Chicago about a month ago, turning the lake from gray to blue and exposing endless lawns of dead grass. Continue reading
High-Rises on the Horizon
An interview with Professor Lawrence J. Vale
HANNA PETROSKI
The shadow of Cabrini-Green looms large over Lawrence J. Vale’s life and career. He grew up in a high-rise a few streets down from the infamous development, and has spent his life trying to understand and help others to understand how public housing has marginalized huge swaths of the American population. In his fourth book, “Purging the Poorest: Public Housing and the Design Politics of Twice-Cleared Housing,” he tackles the histories of Cabrini-Green in Chicago and the Techwood Homes in Atlanta. Vale is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he is also the director of the Resilient Housing Initiative. We got the chance to speak with Professor Vale about what design politics are, the current problems of public housing, and the future of the American poor. Continue reading
End to End
On the eve of a demolition, remembering twenty-five years of Hyde Park back-alley graffiti
CAMDEN BAUCHNER
Here’s the romantic version: Mario Gonzalez, Jr., aka Zore, was hanging out across from the Museum of Science and Industry one day in 1989 when he was approached by a couple of kids. They were all at a gathering for Chi-Rock Nation, an organization that aims to create outlets for young people to be creative and artistic—the “Rock” is for Respect Our Creative Kids. The pair introduced themselves: Desie and Sensei. Continue reading