Chicago Riverwalk by Ross Barney Architects

The new Chicago Riverwalk is a major public amenity at the river level along lower Wacker Drive, extending from Michigan Avenue westward to Lake Street. Completely built out, the Chicago Riverwalk will offer a mix of concessions and public activities. Following the guidelines established by the City of Chicago for riverside development, the Riverwalk includes reproduction light fixtures, planters, railings and other features that provide symbolic links to the City’s past, while creating state-of -the-art facilities for citizens, visitors and fans of the River as it flows through the City of Chicago.

Chicago Riverwalk by Ross Barney Architects - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wabash Plaza - Photo by Kate Joyce Hedrich Blessing

• Client: Chicago Department of Transportation
• Architect: Ross Barney Architects
• Location: Chicago, Illinois

Chicago Riverwalk Panorama - Photo by Kate Joyce Hedrich Blessing

The Wabash Memorial Plaza is a new focal point along the Chicago Riverfront. It provides a green refuge in the center of the City while creating a vital link between upper Wacker Drive and the future riverwalk development.

Chicago Riverwalk - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wabash Plaza in Context - Photo by Kate Joyce Hedrich Blessing

Reclaimed by the rebuilding and relocation of Wacker Drive, the plaza creates an urban park, with terraces and bench-lined ramps that gently transition from busy city streets to more quiet spaces near the river. Landscaped areas and lawns balance the limestone and granite pillars, pilasters, coping and cornices that are an extension of the original Wacker Drive design.

Chicago Riverwalk - Wabash Underbridge Canopy at Dusk - Photo by Kate Joyce Hedrich Blessing

The Chicago Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fountain is both educational and symbolic. A wall of water, cuts into the limestone wall along Wacker Drive, spills into a pool that harmonizes with the upper plaza’s fountain. A timeline, of significant events during the war, line the sides of the pool. The names of Illinois soldiers who died during the war parallel the timeline, linking each name with a moment in time.

Photo by Kate Joyce Hedrich Blessing

Riverwalk at Michigan Ave Bridge - Landscape Elements - Photo by Kate Joyce Hedrich Blessing

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Detail - Photo by Kate Joyce Hedrich Blessing

Tags: Chicago, Illinois

Category: Public Landscapes

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