Witnessing and documenting the renewal of cities and spaces has quickly grown to be one of my favorite parts of my job. I have the privilege of witnessing nothing becoming something or watching an old place transform into something new. The Urban Park project I shot a couple months ago perfectly encapsulates the joy it is to be an architecture photographer.
Aptly named Urban Park, this little park exists in a regular alley on West Monroe between Franklin and Wells in downtown Chicago. Shive Hattery was tasked with transforming this normal and somewhat grimy alley into a community gathering place: the kind of place where people can not only rest and smoke, but also gather together in the outdoors to relax, be inspired, unwind, and rejuvenate. Shive Hattery needed to create the type of place people talk about and don’t stop talking about.
To highlight the incredible transformation of Urban Park, I snagged some before views of the alley from Google Maps.
The intensive and detailed work that architects and designers execute truly does make the world a better, more beautiful place; Urban Park is proof.
