Features
Playing the Advantage
Juan Moreno stands at the edge of a small astroturf soccer field and motions around at the encompassing school building that his architecture firm JGMA designed. This freshly built structure at 51st and Kedzie houses the United Neighborhood Organization’s (UNO) Soccer Academy, a school designed to incorporate academics with a soccer training campus. »
Fast Tracked
The old U.S. Steel Mills have been abandoned for almost 30 years. Prairie has fought through the vast fields of concrete, asphalt, and steel; most of the permanent structures have been torn down or have disintegrated over time. Tucked in a corner of the sprawling 576-acre lot, an oversized bowl rises above the wasteland. »
Best of the South Side 2011
If you look at a map, you’ll see our city of neighborhoods carved into 77 “community areas.” The lines, drawn by sociologists in the 1950s, sometimes traced the perimeters of ethnic enclaves and sometimes created them. Flattening Chicago’s complex social geography, these semi-official designations remain in use, but even urban planners would admit they... »
Lessons from the Barbershop
“This is the best barber school in Chicago,” says Charles R. Lenox, a toothy, caramel-complexioned man with a Bluetooth in his ear. Charles, who carries a photo of himself with his daughter at her graduation from the University of Chicago last year, has been cutting hair for 24 years. “I decided it was finally... »
Fresh Ideas
Responding to the needs and expectation of their neighbors, the Experimental Station has launched numerous programs since the fire, in hopes of serving, equally, the diverse communities around it. Over the years, this commitment has manifested itself in areas of art, culture and politics. But perhaps the station’s greatest success has come through an... »
Unconventional McCormick
Amid concerns of structural problems and inadequacy as an event center, the future of McCormick Place East is now in question. For the architects, environmentalists, politicians, and everyday people who have long disputed the building’s merits, the chance to decide what will become of the exhibition space has been a long time coming. »
The Girl with the Golden Gloves
Twenty-two-year-old Kristin Gearhart is busy putting on her boxing gloves. With four consecutive Chicago Golden Gloves titles under her belt—the most recent one won on April 8—Gearhart is reaching for another kind of gold: victory at the London 2012 Olympic Games. »
Swept Under the Rug
In a meeting with housekeepers on April 7, University of Chicago administrators announced their plans for major changes to the current housekeeping staff. The proposal calls for a consolidation of Housing personnel, the full-time housekeepers who serve the residence halls, and Facilities staff, who work in on-campus buildings. »
