a post-industrial cathedral of water and knowledge
project: a bathhouse + library in 11 existing concrete silos
location: chicago, il
date: fall 2021
class: grad studio 1with profs. carl ray miller + monika thadhani
at the intersection of halsted street and chicago avenue, stands a towering row of concrete silos, grim and industrial, with a constant cloud of dust rising from the motion of cement trucks rumbling in and out. what happens to these silos when they become vacant? how do we repurpose these vestiges of a past (or not-so-past) industrial age?
our past is present, is the future. some echo of a cathedral rings true in the form of these silos. and so the future wraps back to the past, laying the groundwork for a modern place of worship. what else is a cathedral but a receptacle for knowledge? a place where ideas are shared, passed along to the next generation. these silos can become the cathedral of the future, a place of stillness, where knowledge is stored, where we go to find ourselves again.
a bath house, a library.
enter from the river, the source of life in our city, underground through a tunnel and emerge into a cylinder open to the sky, perilously vertical, a circle of cloudless blue above. then into the warren of changing rooms and shower rooms, to prepare yourself for your liquid rituals, cozily encased in stone and concrete.
there are moments of life between stone archways, dimly lit, with the sounds of water echoing off domed ceilings. the ease of moving through water is meditative, the amniotic lift and float of salt water
