ACTIVE PROJECTS

CARA COLLECTIVE WITH BEEHYYVE AND APMONARCH

APMonarch and Beehyyve were hired by The Cara Collective to design their new flagship building in Englewood enlisting Open Architecture Collaborative Chicago which views community engagement as critical to any successful project.  Too often community engagement is reduced to a couple of predetermined meetings where decisions already made are shared with the community with few real opportunities for feedback or collaboration.  We seek to change that paradigm through true community partnerships before, during, and after potential projects. 

Urban Growers Collective and Green Era

Open Architecture Collaborative Chicago is supporting Urban Growers Collective and Green Era, a Black- and women-led non-profit farm and Biofuel Digestor Campus in Chicago, Illinois working to build a more just and equitable local food system with project management and cultural programming. We aim to help address the inequities and structural racism that exist in the food system and in communities of color by strengthening UGC’s and Green Era’s built environment and connection to community.

Under the Grid & WACA Bell Park

Our efforts to reimagine urban infrastructure gained momentum in 2019 when the UTG Collective hosted an “urban hack.” This event brought together community members to envision possibilities for developing land beneath and next to the Pink Line El tracks, aiming to create off-street green amenities and connections through the North Lawndale neighborhood. One direct outcome of the hack was the first Under the Grid project, WACA/Bell Park, which has since become a community space featuring a basketball court.

The primary focus is on a 15-block stretch beneath the Pink Line "El" tracks in North Lawndale. The proposed trail, spanning from Kedzie to Pulaski, aims to connect three Pink Line stations. This vision seeks to revitalize these spaces by introducing amenities such as food vendors, housing, cafes, and cultural venues. The objective is to stimulate healthy, equitable development in North Lawndale, linking community development with arts and culture.

The UTG line is at the concept stage. WACA/Bell Park is envisioned as an anchor site along the line. It was dedicated in June 2023, thanks to $500,000 in Chicago Recovery Plan funds and $450,000 secured by Trust for Public Land through its partnerships with Nike and Invenergy

Explore Our Past Work

Cultivate Collective hired APMonarch to design and manage the construction of the second phase of a new center for community wellness, learning, and sustainability at the new Academy for Global Citizenship campus. Open Architecture Collaborative Chicago led the community engagement for Cultivate Collective, comprised of community partners and stakeholder organizations, developing a six‐acre site onChicago’s southwest side.

To continue to be a beacon of resources for the South and Westside families during changing political landscape and educational disinvestment Blue 1647/Ignite Technology approached Open Architecture Chicago to create a Mobile Tech Bus.

The Ujima Hive proposes a new model of Community Center and Business Laboratory where like-minded organizations will co-locate to transform an abandoned school building into a hive of activity and community growth and wellness. Open Architecture Collaborative Chicago, Made in Englewood, and Art West were cultural design consultants on the the project. The project is still securing funding.

Douglass 18 was a 2 year teen-led, multi-stakeholder collaboration between Chicago Park District, Lincoln Park Zoo, Trust For Public Land, Haman Cross III, Freedom House, Eric Hotchkiss, Made in Englewood David Brown, Available City, OACChicago, and many others.

Forest Preserves of Cook County (FPCC) contracted Trust for Public Land (TPL) to assist with its Connecting People to Nature Challenge which aimed to encourage residents to connect with nature and local groups to partner with FPCC. TPL subcontracted Open Architecture Collaborative to lead and execute community engagement strategy for the three Challenge Sites: Sauk Trail Woods, Miller Meadow, and Caldwell Woods/Bunker Hill.

Lawndale Popup Spot is a community museum featuring exhibits by and for the North Lawndale community. Lawndale Popup Spot is now located at Love Blooms Plaza, southwest corner of Central Park Ave. & Douglas Blvd.

PROJECT IDEA?