INVERTED MONUMENTS: the invisible off-grid moments are about to be emphasized and monumentalized not upright monuments but inverted ones. PLOT: Chicago’s endless orthogonal grid gets penetrated by spontaneous interruptions, such as diagonals. PHOTOSHOP: A collection of Chicago’s grid irregularities, applied as Photoshop commands throughout the uniform urban canvas.Ī CITY OF EXCEPTIONS: An abstracted diagram of a gridded city, such as Chicago, where exceptions become the leading characteristic of that city.įIGURE-GROUND: Off-grid commonly perceived as an exception within the city starts to overtake the city and makes grid the one exception. The intention is to use ‘what if’ scenarios as an elaborate interpretation of what the city could become, an alternate universe based on familiar but re-envisioned narratives and possibilities. This is not practical research on the city rather, it is a project preoccupied with the notion of possible realities, which intends to use these scenarios as a theoretical construct from which to build new worlds and hypothetical landscapes. The invisible off-grid moments now have a new monumental importance and have surpassed any limits of the traditional urban planning.

Alleys turn to bridges, garages to entries and what we used to know as ground turns to rooftop.

Slowly, an inversion occurs, skylines no longer tower to the clouds, but instead extend an astonishing 1,200 feet below the surface of the earth. Except this time it is different: no one can find it it seems to be invisible amongst a crowded downtown. Project by Ryan Johnson and Darya MinosyantsĬhicago is about to gain a new addition to its skyline and its endless grid.

Cities skylines scenarios