Chicago is about to gain a new addition to its skyline and its endless grid. Except this time it is different: no one can find it; it seems to be invisible amongst a crowded downtown. 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. Alleys turn to bridges, garages to entries and what we used to know as ground turns to rooftop. The invisible off-grid moments now have a new monumental importance and have surpassed any limits of the traditional urban planning. 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 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.
PHOTOSHOP: A collection of Chicago’s grid irregularities, applied as Photoshop commands throughout the uniform urban canvas.