Square Root Architecture + Design just began construction of its first prefab home in Chicago. The C3 Modular Home is participating in the Chicago Green Homes program and will shoot for LEED Platinum certification with green elements such as Energy Star appliances, WaterSense fixtures, a mini-split HVAC system, multiple layers of insulation, high performance windows, and a solar thermal system.
Chicago has a new 82-story tower on its skyline that is due for completion in the Spring of 2010. But in a city of grids and rectilinear forms, the AQUA tower has a distinctive character with a more fluid appearance coming from the deep projecting balconies which are reminiscent of geologic rock formations. Designed by Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang Architects, AQUA is also currently the tallest structure designed by a woman-led firm.
This is the Yannell Residence in Chicago, Illinois, a home that was designed and built as an exercise in net zero energy living — it produces at least as much energy as it uses over the course of a year. It received LEED Platinum certification in July 2009, and has been on a roll getting media attention all over the place. Some say it’s one of the greenest houses ever built, but one thing is for sure: it has a ton of interesting green elements.
One hundred years ago, in 1909, architect Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett completed a document called the “Plan of Chicago,” which, to use the words of The New Yorker, “determined the shape of modern Chicago.” Now, in an effort to build upon the work of Burnham and plan for the next 100 years, Big. Bold. Visionary: Chicago Considers the Next Century presents the work of nearly three dozen architects and planners with a vision for the windy city.
Project Profiles
