Keeping the Lucas Museum in Chicago

As Terreform launches a new large-scale study of the South Side in Chicago, Michael Sorkin writes a letter to George Lucas and Mellody Hobson asking them to keep the Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts within the city. He points out an alternative site for the museum, one that would no longer take up park land but utilize the northern portion of a U.S. Steel site.

Read more here: Michael Sorkin urges Lucas Museum to stay in Chicago and revitalize the city’s South Side  (Architect's Newspaper)
And here: Architect Asks Lucas to Reconsider Museum for Chicago, Suggests U.S. Steel Site (Curbed Chicago)

Proposing a Subway Freight System for NYC

Makoto Okazaki, partner and principal architect at Michael Sorkin Studio, consulting on Terreform's New York City [Steady] State project, spoke at Urban Design Forum about a new form of mobility for the city. Makoto's proposal for a "Subway Freight System for NYC" introduced the idea of adapting the subway system to move goods. The subway could be used late at night to transfer items to distribution hubs and then in the early morning to move freight to shops throughout the city. He took this a step further, claiming that this would free up space above ground for pedestrians, recreation, and even urban farming. 

Read more about Urban Design Forum's "Onward: New Ideas for Urban Freight" panel.

The Power of Vertical Architecture

Vyjayanthi Rao presented at "The Center Cannot Hold?" conference (London), the Calvert 22 Foundation's launch of event of its 12 week season of art and events, entitled "Power and Architecture." At this premiere, Vyjayanthi spoke about "Verticality, Post-Socialism and Re-Structuring in Mumbai" for the panel "Edifice Complex: Verticality Revisited."

Full conference schedule and topics: The Center Cannot Hold? New Monumentality, Neo-Modernism and Other Zombie Utopias.