Big Ideas Proposed for Chicago's Navy Pier

Blair Kamin reports on proposals from five teams of celebrated designers vying to re-imagine Navy Pier. They reflect big ideas, and big budgets.

1 minute read

February 1, 2012, 7:00 AM PST

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj

As Kamin reports, the budget for the project has been set at $85 million, so it's hard to imagine how fantastical elements such as an aerial gondola or a tower, called the Glacier, which would rise out of the lake just east of the pier, will fit practically into a comprehensive redevelopment.

"'We received a lot of big ideas,' said Steve Haemmerle, the pier's executive vice president and its point man on the contest. 'One of the things we'll need to sort through over the coming months is how these big ideas work at Navy Pier.' If fully built, most of the plans would far exceed the $85 million budget, he acknowledged."

FULL STORY: 5 fresh visions for Navy Pier

Monday, January 30, 2012 in Chicago Tribune

Architecture Urban Development Illinois Chicago Navy Pier AECOM/BIG Davis Brody Bond/Aedas/Martha Schwartz Partners !melk/HOK/UrbanLab James Corner Field Operations Xavier Vendrell Studio/Grimshaw Architects View More

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