The City of Chicago’s Department of Planning and Development (DPD) has announced its 24 appointments to the newly-launched Committee on Design. The design review and approval process for Chicago’s largest construction projects will be enhanced and streamlined through this volunteer Committee on Design consisting of the city’s top urban design professionals, according to DPD commissioner Maurice Cox.
Largely comprised of globally recognized architects, artists, academics, and real estate professionals, the 24-member committee will advise DPD and developers on innovative and cost-effective design considerations that will help large construction projects to be expediently processed through internal, Plan Commission, and City Council-related project reviews. With the group’s formation, the City of Chicago’s design review processes more closely align with peer-review models of other major North American cities, including New York, Toronto, Boston, Seattle, and others.
Committee members will serve two-year terms, starting with the initial appointees below:
– Catherine Baker, partner, Landon Bone Baker
– Sara Beardsley, technical director, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
– Andre Brumfield, principal, Gensler
– Nick Cave, sculptor and performance artist
– Bob Clark, executive chairman and founder, Clayco
– Philip Enquist, partner, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
– Bob Faust, designer and artist
– Jeanne Gang, founder, Studio Gang
– Theaster Gates, artist and professor at the Department of Visual Arts, University of Chicago
– Eleanor Gorski, planning and design director, University of Illinois-Chicago
– Hana Ishikawa, design principal, Site Design Group
– Casey Jones, principal, Perkins & Will
– Jackie Koo, principal, Koo Architecture
– Reed Kroloff, dean, Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture
– Brian Lee, consulting partner, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
– Renauld Mitchell, partner, Moody Nolan
– Juan Gabriel Moreno, president and founder, Juan Gabriel Moreno Architects
– Guacolda Reyes, chief real estate development officer, The Resurrection Project
– John Ronan, founding principal, John Ronan Architects
– Lesley Roth, principal, Lamar Johnson Collaborative
– Ann Thompson, executive vice president for architecture and design, Related Midwest
– Maria Villalobos, assistant professor, Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture
– Leon Walker, managing partner, DL3 Realty
– Amanda Williams, visual artist
Committee members represent each of Chicago’s seven planning regions and a wide range of interrelated disciplines, including affordable housing, architecture, art, community development, public engagement, landscape architecture, and historic preservation. Each was either recruited or selected through an open application process that DPD launched this spring.
Originally Planned Eligible Projects for Committee on Design (Eligibility has been revised). Slide by Department of Planning and Development
Twelve committee members will review major development projects on the second Wednesday of every month, based on project size, height, geography, and potential city subsidies. Basic triggers for project review include the below criteria:
– Planned Developments that exceed 10 acres, 2.5 million square feet of space, or 2,500 residential units
– High-rises that are 80 feet or taller, any projects that are not height-compliant with current zoning and policy, and any projects that vary from the scale and character of the surrounding context
– Projects that use City resources, such as Tax Increment Financing, Neighborhood Opportunity Bonus funds, or support from the INVEST South/West initiative
– Projects that are adjacent to overlay districts or special street designations, such as landmark districts, pedestrian streets, etc.
Because the committee’s recommendations will occur early in the development process, prior to a developer submitting a formal application to the City of Chicago for zoning or other entitlements, its work is expected to result in faster, more productive review and approval procedures. The process currently takes approximately six months or more from a project’s application date, internal review, a Plan Commission hearing, and City Council approval.
Existing Planned Development Process vs. Process with Committee on Design. Slide by Department of Planning and Development
The committee’s recommendations, where appropriate, will be formalized by DPD staff through written and verbal discussions with individual developers prior to the submission of formal development applications. DPD staff, along with representatives from other city departments, will continue to review projects that are not selected for review by the Committee on Design.
The Committee on Design’s first meeting will take place virtually at 1pm on August 11. A formal agenda will be posted a week in advance at chicago.gov/cod. Meetings will be open to the public.
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More chefs in the kitchen never makes a better soup.
This is a back patting committee at best.
I’d agree with the comment above if they were making soup. Time will tell on this – will it just be ego enhancement or will it lead to better design, and more importantly, fewer hideous buildings. Also, can critical development mass be reached where the added cost of good design can still be a good business investment? And, will there be any teeth in the evaluation of this group, or will they just be steamrolled? I’ll give them the benefit of a doubt, because you really can’t go anywhere but up with some of the stuff going up.