The Site

Morgan Park was built as a model city by U.S. Steel as Live+Work community. U.S. Steel sustained all the neighborhood communities, and after the company left – all the amenities followed. The lack of jobs, education, stores, and recreation continues to be a challenge to this day. The population of Morgan Park is aging as the younger generation leaves for the nearby cities, which led to shutting down the key community asset – Morgan Park School.

Intervention

Our team decided to revive the concept of a model city by creating a new business core in Morgan Park. It would include a Live+Work building and a Grocery Coop.

Both buildings are inspired by the site's industrial history while staying environmentally conscious, through the harvesting of the site's resources such as the sun and water.

The Grocery Coop would have an integrated greenhouse, which would grow food locally all year, as well as an outdoor garden for farming in the summer months.

The Live+Work space is an apartment complex with manufacturing spaces in the adjacent buildings and a store on the first floor to sell the produced goods.

Together, the Live+Work building and Grocery Coop would create jobs to sustain the local community and serve as a stepping stone to further revitalize Morgan Park.