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FCEC Design Competition
The City of Chicago Department of Environment (DOE) and the State of Illinois have partnered to develop a new environmental center in the Calumet area of Chicago. When completed, the Ford Calumet Environmental Center (FCEC) will educate the public about the industrial, cultural and ecological heritage of the Calumet area, and provide an operational base for research activities, volunteer stewardship, environmental remediation and ecological rehabilitation.
Both the City and the State intend to make the FCEC a model of sustainable design and construction, a leading example of a city committed to green design. The City also would like the environmental center to add to Chicago’s history of great, innovative architecture. To accomplish these goals, as well as to generate enthusiasm and interest for the project, DOE held an international design competition for the Ford Calumet Environmental Center. Competition Advisor and Jury Donna Robertson, Dean of the College of Architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology, served as competition advisor, working with DOE to organize and manage the design competition. An architectural jury was selected to represent a spectrum of design philosophies combined with mature professional judgment and a commitment to and expertise in sustainable design. The jury included architects, landscape architects, a green building expert and a community representative. More information about the competition advisor and jury is attached as a PDF file below. Competition Process The FCEC design competition began in November 2003 and ended on Earth Day, April 22, 2004. It was held in two phases. Phase One was open internationally to all design professionals and students. During Phase One, 108 architects from seven countries—Belgium, Canada, France, Spain, Japan, England and the United States—submitted designs. A jury was assembled to judge the competition. Submissions were judged based on innovation, green building design, feasibility, response to context and design excellence (not necessarily in that order). Using a blind jury process, the jury selected the following five finalists (in no particular order) to move on to Phase Two:
- Carol Ross Barney (Ross Barney + Jankowski Architects, Chicago)
- Jeanne Gang and Mark Schendel (Studio Gang Architects, Chicago)
- Brian Strawn and Karla Sierralta (Chicago)
- Martin Felsen and Sarah Dunn (UrbanLab, Chicago)
- Kevin Yim (Student, University of Tokyo, Japan)
In addition, the jury selected three honorable mentions (in order):
- Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee (Johnston Marklee & Associates, Los Angeles, CA)
- Helmut Jahn (Murphy/Jahn Architects, Chicago, IL)
- Elva Rubio (Gensler, Chicago, IL)
The five finalists moved into Phase Two in February 2004. They were asked to further develop their designs and return for a presentation to the jury on April 21, 2004. The jury reconvened at that time and chose the winning design.
Winning Design On April 22, 2004, the FCEC design submitted by the team of Jeanne Gang and Mark Schendel (Studio Gang Architects, Chicago) was selected by the FCEC design competition jury as the winner. The jury recommended to the City of Chicago that it commission Studio Gang Architects to design the Ford Calumet Environmental Center using the winning design.
The Studio Gang design, entitled "Best Nest," uses nest making as a metaphor for the team’s approach to designing the sustainable building. The design uses a nest-like woven façade to prevent bird collisions with the building. Steel from the Calumet area is reused for the building’s structural columns. The building and site form a dynamic system that engages the community. The building is designed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED™) certification. More information about the winning design and finalists’ designs is available in the PDF files below.
A model and all project competition details eventually will be housed at the Ford Calumet Environmental Center
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