HANNAH DORIAN
This is a figure ground drawing showing parts of the following Chicago neighborhoods: Gold Coast, Streeterville, Near North and Old Town. The areas are predominately residential, consisting of a mixture of single family brownstones and mid-to-highrise apartment complexes. Larger boulevards, including Rush St, Oak St and Michigan Ave, are lined with retail store fronts, restaurants and mixed use buildings.
This aerial view shows the block between Division St, N Lakeshore Dr, Scott St and N Stone St. The block has two residential buildings. The shorter building was originally constructed in 1914 and held 10 residential units. The original apartments have since been divided into 55 condominiums. The area is a high traffic part of the and allows commuters traveling south on Jean Baptiste Point Dusable Lake Shore Dr to merge onto Michigan Ave.
This drawing highlights the major traffic patterns in the Near N. Side/Gold Coast neighborhood. Car and bus traffic along Jean Baptiste Point du Sable Lake Shore Dr are highlighted by the larger pink dashed arrows. The underground walking path connecting inner Lake Shore Dr and the Lakefront Trail is shown by the connecting dashed line from point (A) to point (B). The trail is highly utilized as nearly 70,000 people utilize it on any given summer weekend day.
The ANT diagram focused on three areas. The first, historical Chicago figures connected to the block and greater city, second the environmental issues the Chicago shoreline faces and finally how urban design can impact mental health. It was not until recently that the first non-native settler of Chicago, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, was
recognized as the of the city. In the summer of 2021 outer Lake Shore Dr’s name was changed to Jean Baptiste Point du Sable Lake Shore Dr honoring du Sable. The body of water just opposite from this road, Lake Michigan, is currently facing high water level fluctuations. These changes greatly impact the shoreline’s growing erosion evident in the aerial shoreline images. Finally, the area has many features, including the shoreline and ample space to exercise along the trail, that can help to improve mental health. These are two examples of many ways highlighted by the Center for Urban Design and Mental Health that city design can be done in ways to improve the mental health of residents and people who utilize the city.
This series of images shows the transformation of the space from day to night. On the other end of Division St the road is blocked off on weekends allowing the bars and restaurant to utilize the street as a space to serve customers. This concept was expanded further down the street as shown in the images, but in a more casual way. Leaning on further enhancing the urban design to help improve the mental health of residents blocking off the street allows the space to be used as a gathering space where people can socialize without the need of spending money as a restaurant.