Submitted by PAM SCHLECKER (not verified) on Tue, 2012-01-31 19:23
Neighborhood/City:
Oak Park (Suburbs)
Reducing the outrageous price of parking would make it possible for more families to spend money for Navy pier attractions and restaurants. This requires no capital investment.You can't visit it for two hours without taking out a loan!
Submitted by Howard N. (not verified) on Wed, 2012-02-01 06:57
I have concerns about all the designs. Did they factor in Chicago's hot summers and snowy winters? For those designs with rising and declining walkways, how does the design prevent slipping on ice and snow in the winter? For those designs that provide more walking areas, will they have a more seating along the way for children and older folks to rest during the hot summers? Will they have areas to buy water and have more restrooms? The pool lacks a water slide, proper changing areas and might have excessive amounts of chlorine. Please have a redesign that serves the people and not the architects.
Submitted by richard o (not verified) on Wed, 2012-02-01 12:25
Neighborhood/City:
Lakeview (Chicago)
All the designs LOOK great. However all the designs have questionable features that would them bad choices. For example the one with the pool and beach included - there are plenty of beaches in Chicago why go to the pier for that (and what use is a pool and beach in a Chicago winter). Several designs have sections that get right down to the water level, nice on paper but with the pier being a destination for families with small children is it really a good idea to have easy access to deep water? Lots of the designs have massive stair sections but shouldn't a major tourist destination be more handicapped accessible (and changing it to a massive or steep ramp doesn't do the trick either). A gondola from Michigan Avenue? Why not from the middle of the loop to take advantage of all the public trans that passes through the loop but not through Michigan Avenue?
The designs all look nice but I wouldn't vote to accept any of them.
Submitted by chicdesign (not verified) on Wed, 2012-02-01 12:37
Neighborhood/City:
Bucktown (Chicago)
Biggest fan of the Melk/HOK/UrbanLab design - it's cohesive and looks like a great collaboration. It's also aspirational without being absurd - seems to get the feel of Chicago and challenge the status quo at the same time. I'd certainly start taking family there (instead of avoiding like the plague!)
Submitted by Joan Isaacs (not verified) on Fri, 2012-02-03 09:49
Neighborhood/City:
Bronzeville / Douglas (Chicago)
The AECOM/Bjarke Ingels Group has the right mix of big ideas and potential feasiblity. The staircase near the ferris wheel will give amazing views of the skyline and the water. It efficiently uses space to creat even more green space on the pier which is needed in the summer. The east end would be a great place to go out and see the water. Love it!
Submitted by E2 (not verified) on Fri, 2012-02-03 16:23
Neighborhood/City:
Ukrainian Village (Chicago)
Navy Pier should serve the people of Chicago! The amphitheater with the ferris wheel and city scape backdrop is brilliant! Then design a hill which incorporates natural preserves in the summer and a sledding park in the winter. Part of the design could include indoor spaces below the hill for lease. Imagine a pier which provides a state of the art movie theater, children's museum, or a groundbreaking athletic club, which by the way would appeal very much to the influx of loop residents already running laps around the pier. Add an outrageous display of lighting [which of course would change throughout the year], replace the existing ferris wheel with one larger than any in the world [as a tribute to the World Fair] and you will have yourself a world class attraction.
Submitted by None of the above (not verified) on Mon, 2012-02-06 20:54
I question the professionalism of all of the entrants.
NONE addressed the crumbling pier that parallels Navy Pier along the south. Currently home to flocks of seagulls, Chicago already has plans in the works to rebuild it and make it usable for day-trippers. And yet, not a single one of these firms included it, addressed it, or apparently even noticed it was there. Not very professional. One wonders what else they missed.
Submitted by Erica B. (not verified) on Tue, 2012-02-07 12:08
All of the designs are pretty unpracticle. I want to see the "actual" designs not the pie in the sky designs. Each design has good things about it. I want to see what can be done with the budget the city has for it. We all know the tax payers are going to pay for it and then pay for it again every time they go visit.
The design needs to be praticle, offer new entertainment options, it must be safe, must not cost a consumer any more then it does today..... actually less would score more total revenue, and it needs to last 20+ years with no major investment.
All the designs will require HUGE upkeep budgets which is a no no. The city and its tax payers cannot afford that. We need to rip off business travelers and convention people, not the city tax payers.
Submitted by Linda T. (not verified) on Fri, 2012-02-10 11:32
The AECOM/Bjarke Ingels Group gets my vote! There's a lot I like about this design, and, most notably, using the Crystal room and parts of the rooftop gardens being used for food production for Pier restaurants is brilliant. With so much focus on local, sustainable urban food production here in the city and around the country and the world, it's a trend that's here to stay for a number of important reasons. Even if another plan is selected, I feel strongly that food production should be included in it.
Video Archive
how about reducing the price of parking at Navy Pier
Reducing the outrageous price of parking would make it possible for more families to spend money for Navy pier attractions and restaurants. This requires no capital investment.You can't visit it for two hours without taking out a loan!
"how about reducing the price of parking at Navy Pier"
Even John Callaway once joked that you have to take out a 2nd mortgage to park there!
Navy Pier Redesign
I have concerns about all the designs. Did they factor in Chicago's hot summers and snowy winters? For those designs with rising and declining walkways, how does the design prevent slipping on ice and snow in the winter? For those designs that provide more walking areas, will they have a more seating along the way for children and older folks to rest during the hot summers? Will they have areas to buy water and have more restrooms? The pool lacks a water slide, proper changing areas and might have excessive amounts of chlorine. Please have a redesign that serves the people and not the architects.
Urban Lab
Urban Lab's design is beautiful. We need world class design to pull us out of the conservative midwestern mindset.
Pier designs
All the designs LOOK great. However all the designs have questionable features that would them bad choices. For example the one with the pool and beach included - there are plenty of beaches in Chicago why go to the pier for that (and what use is a pool and beach in a Chicago winter). Several designs have sections that get right down to the water level, nice on paper but with the pier being a destination for families with small children is it really a good idea to have easy access to deep water? Lots of the designs have massive stair sections but shouldn't a major tourist destination be more handicapped accessible (and changing it to a massive or steep ramp doesn't do the trick either). A gondola from Michigan Avenue? Why not from the middle of the loop to take advantage of all the public trans that passes through the loop but not through Michigan Avenue?
The designs all look nice but I wouldn't vote to accept any of them.
Melk/HOK/UrbanLab
Biggest fan of the Melk/HOK/UrbanLab design - it's cohesive and looks like a great collaboration. It's also aspirational without being absurd - seems to get the feel of Chicago and challenge the status quo at the same time. I'd certainly start taking family there (instead of avoiding like the plague!)
Ridiculous
A "glacier" in the lake? That's the definition of absurdity. It would be an embarrassing skyline photo for Chicago forever.
AECOM/Bjarke Ingels Group is the best
The AECOM/Bjarke Ingels Group has the right mix of big ideas and potential feasiblity. The staircase near the ferris wheel will give amazing views of the skyline and the water. It efficiently uses space to creat even more green space on the pier which is needed in the summer. The east end would be a great place to go out and see the water. Love it!
World Class
Navy Pier should serve the people of Chicago! The amphitheater with the ferris wheel and city scape backdrop is brilliant! Then design a hill which incorporates natural preserves in the summer and a sledding park in the winter. Part of the design could include indoor spaces below the hill for lease. Imagine a pier which provides a state of the art movie theater, children's museum, or a groundbreaking athletic club, which by the way would appeal very much to the influx of loop residents already running laps around the pier. Add an outrageous display of lighting [which of course would change throughout the year], replace the existing ferris wheel with one larger than any in the world [as a tribute to the World Fair] and you will have yourself a world class attraction.
I question the
I question the professionalism of all of the entrants.
NONE addressed the crumbling pier that parallels Navy Pier along the south. Currently home to flocks of seagulls, Chicago already has plans in the works to rebuild it and make it usable for day-trippers. And yet, not a single one of these firms included it, addressed it, or apparently even noticed it was there. Not very professional. One wonders what else they missed.
Concepts
All of the designs are pretty unpracticle. I want to see the "actual" designs not the pie in the sky designs. Each design has good things about it. I want to see what can be done with the budget the city has for it. We all know the tax payers are going to pay for it and then pay for it again every time they go visit.
The design needs to be praticle, offer new entertainment options, it must be safe, must not cost a consumer any more then it does today..... actually less would score more total revenue, and it needs to last 20+ years with no major investment.
All the designs will require HUGE upkeep budgets which is a no no. The city and its tax payers cannot afford that. We need to rip off business travelers and convention people, not the city tax payers.
Grow some food at Navy Pier! :)
The AECOM/Bjarke Ingels Group gets my vote! There's a lot I like about this design, and, most notably, using the Crystal room and parts of the rooftop gardens being used for food production for Pier restaurants is brilliant. With so much focus on local, sustainable urban food production here in the city and around the country and the world, it's a trend that's here to stay for a number of important reasons. Even if another plan is selected, I feel strongly that food production should be included in it.
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