A park threshold between city and lake
Cascade Park sits on a front row site where the Chicago River meets Lake Michigan, a few blocks north of the iconic Maggie Daley and Millennium Parks between Lakeshore Drive and Michigan Avenue. Positioned between the city’s signature skyline and the limitless horizon of Lake Michigan, the oblique tilt in the park plane provides an immersion between these two powerful qualities that define the unique identity of Chicago, while also closing a critical missing link for pedestrians to the lake and beyond. Part of a four-acre multi-tower mixed-use development, Cascade Park provides a public amenity for local residents and the larger community, as well as a convenient shortcut for active mobility between world famous Chicago Landmarks: the city and the lake.
The park provides a pedestrian link between the upper street network of the neighbourhood and the lower level of the lake 50 feets lower. A seamless and accessible descent from North Harbor Drive links pedestrians via a contiguous park surface. The descent of the park is divided into tiered spaces that can accommodate a wide range of flexible programming to become an open space amenity for the surrounding Lakeshore East community. The descending open space in the park is suspended above a circulation corridor at the lake level which accommodates local traffic to the adjacent developments, as well as pedestrians and cyclists connecting to the Lakefront Trail. The juxtaposition of these two overlapping public spaces creates additional area for activity within the constraints of a compact site. Combined with the garden ambience designed for the base of the towers and their respective outdoor amenities, the landscape strategy aspires to transform the current post-industrial ‘terrain vague’ into a generous high quality outdoor space for residents and visitors.
