ARCHITECTURE TO HARVEST ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES - page 3

This second proposal, a solar power plant with community-use facilities, was developed for the urban infill site on Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive, the hole in the ground left by the unbuilt Chicago Spire. Full integration of a solar collecting surface allows for sculptural and imaginative mixed-use combinations. Capable of generating a megawatt of electrical power, the solar collecting surface shields the view of parking from adjacent residential towers and creates a fanciful skyline sculpture. The sculptural form includes a spiraling tourist walkway with superb city and lake views. Ground level conference and exhibition halls have low mass transparency and maximize natural light without heat gain or solar glare. The rooftop public garden enhances facility use while increasing overhead insulation. At street level, view corridors under the roof garden, solar skin and Lake Shore Drive provide an open line of site to Lake Michigan.