On Devon Avenue in West Ridge
Good City Group has collaborated with the SpaceShift Collective to create site-specific design interventions along Devon Avenue, one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Chicago. Drawing on the abundance of the rich cultural heritage, culinary traditions, and creativity of local residents along the Devon corridor, GCG also developed proposals for the Chicago Alfresco Project.
Shamiana, a partner event of CAB5, September 2023-June 2024
Shamiana is an immersive, multi-sensory public art installation and community gathering space in Chicago’s South Asian hub on Devon Avenue. Conceived and designed by SpaceShift Collective with support from Good City Group, who designed and fabricated the structures for placemaking and street activations.
“Shamiana serves as a place for gathering and growth” and took place on Devon Avenue between September 2023-June 2024, as a part of the Fifth Edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, This is a Rehearsal.
Photos courtesy of the Good City Group.
Devon Potluck Plazas, a proposal for the Chicago Alfresco program, summer 2021
Devon Potluck Plazas offered residents a “Third Place” between work and home, where they can share a lunchtime meal with their neighbors, share stories about their neighborhood, (use a bench, a stage, a wall) while eating Al Fresco carrying out food from their favorite restaurant, or from their own home. We had partnered with the West Ridge Chamber of Commerce for the inaugural Chicago Alfresco program. The project is part of a broader city initiative to open streets and create places for dining, public life, community, arts, culture, walking and biking.
Residents could share community open space while practicing safe social distancing and rekindle a sense of connection and place among neighbors as Chicago moved into a pandemic recovery phase. By drawing on the abundance of the rich cultural heritage, culinary traditions, and creativity of local residents and restaurateurs alike along Devon corridor, the Potluck Plazas would activate public spaces and explore the potential of side streets as community placemaking spaces.
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Devon Neighborhood Props, mobile objects to support Devon Potluck Plazas
The Good City Group is developing a design of Devon Neighborhood Props, a series of multifunctional objects that create an adaptable framework to facilitate cultural productions and community-engaged placemaking. These props are the designed objects that are the foundation of the larger umbrella project—Devon Potluck Plazas, developed in partnership with the West Ridge Chamber of Commerce (WRCC), with support from a grant awarded by the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT).
The concept is composed of a single, mobile, and portable surface that rests on a set of supports. These can be positioned either vertically or horizontally at different heights (coffee table or bar height). The asymmetrical form produces interesting opportunities of proximity (as opposed to a typical rectangular table), particularly when arranged in a group.
Devon Neighborhood Props will serve as temporary tables, galleries, and signage during the larger potluck events, with the goal of reconnecting after the isolation due to the pandemic.
