Sentinels: Iron Portals of Chicagoland

As the 2023–2024 Garofalo Fellow at the UIC School of Architecture, I was quickly drawn to the billboard infrastructures as standardized, monumental, dignified, yet relatively unobstructed constructions. Through its massive size, a particular cantilevered design, and inviting advertisement slogans, the billboard acquires the properties of a monument—resembling guards or sentinels protecting and welcoming you to a certain area or community. An investigation was called for.

The billboard’s size and style of presentation, as we have known it throughout most of the past century, had its prototype in the Egyptian upright slabs of stone termed stelae by the Greeks, announcing decrees, warnings, and laws in public places. The billboard’s imposing scale fits the American landscape and conveys its advertising message directly, without the distractions intrinsic to newspapers, magazines, TV, and internet. It was intended to do only one thing: sell. But the actual billboard (infra)structure—which has its origin in Chicago and is now, in 2023, counting up to 450,000 freestanding structures across the country—became the monument of an urbanized, modern, capitalist, and technological society. It acquired central symbolic importance for the New World and shaped the identity of the United States as an individualist consumer culture on the move.

There are plenty of surveys of the American landscape littered with commerce and ads, but I have no interest in advertisement itself or consumer research. I’m interested in the effect of these steel monopole structures on the people and the (local) urban environments. The billboard’s monetized side faces the highway and is directed mainly to drivers and passengers. But from every other viewpoint, we see a massive structure that removes part of the sky. Documenting and photographing those hyper-functional backsides reveals a monumental sacredness that is not so different from Native American Totem Poles, Nigerian Shango staffs, or Inuit Inukshuk stone landmarks. They are all markers of space.

While traveling Chicagoland, mapping and photographing as many billboards as possible, I also browsed the online inventories of major advertisement companies (such as Lamar, Outfront, and Clearchannel), listing the advertisement strengths and technical data of each photographed structure. By describing the advantages of advertising on a particular billboard, such as long traffic jams, affluence, demographics, restaurants, and nightlife, these vendors provide a blunt but detailed description of the neighborhood and community surrounding that billboard. This detailed information helps businesses define their ads and slogans to target the right audience. Juxtaposing the images of the physical structures with its advertisement strengths and slogan generates a surreal effect that transforms the meaning of the billboard as a representative monument of American culture.

The billboard influences their proximate and urban contexts, just as these contexts significantly influence their design and form. To understand its full cultural and monumental significance, it is crucial to change perspective from functional pragmatism to spiritual fundamentalism, which triggers real familiarity and a sense of security. Such familiarity is often evoked through classic elements of architecture that have belonged to the universal formal lexis for ages. Columns, pillars, portals, stairs, and vaults are the basis for all historic buildings because they reveal similarities that bridge continents. Interestingly, the most characteristic structural element of the billboard is the joint plate, where the column meets the torsion bar. Its sophisticated design—to resist wind loads— is unique to the monopole cantilevered billboard structure. Still, its aesthetic and spatial quality are also reminiscent of ancient Greek or Roman portals or gates consisting of columns, capitals, and architraves.

If the photography shows the dominance of the billboard infrastructure in space, then the sculptural work aims to cement its value as an essential monument of American cultural heritage. As an artistic exploration, it feels logical to appropriate and transform the billboards into a series of open-form classical sculptures that visitors can walk around and (potentially) enter. Transforming, scaling, modifying, and reconstructing these (infra)structures into portals—with advertisement slogans as inscriptions—reenforces the perception of the billboards as Sentinels. Not unlike the caryatids protecting a shrine, they guard and protect the community while at the same time welcoming you home.

Location I 294 S Tri State Toll Wy Es 50ft N/O 92nd St F/N 1
Media/Style Permanent Bulletin/Regular
Impressions 523,000/week
Advertising Strengths Tri-State Tollway is a major north/south link for motorists traveling between Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Showing to three lanes of traffic, this bulletin is located on the city’s Far South Side bordering on the market’s southern suburban communities.

Location I 90/I 94 Kennedy Xwy Es 1ft N/O Belmont Av F/W 1
Media/Style Permanent Bulletin/Regular
Impressions 461,000/week
Advertising Strengths The Kennedy Expressway provides access to other major expressways, including the Eisenhower, the Edens, the Tri-State, and the Dan Ryan. Approximately three miles north of this display, the Kennedy Expressway intersects with the Edens Expressway, which is the main route used by motorists from the affluent northern suburbs. The Kennedy Expressway channels traffic between the upper income suburban communities to the north and northwest of the city into downtown Chicago. It also conducts vehicles between the downtown area and O'Hare International Airport.

Location Addams (I 90) S/S .8 Mi W/O Wolf F/E
Media/Style Permanent Bulletin/Regular
Impressions 550,000/week
Advertising Strengths Located on the Jane Addams Tollway (I-90), this 20x60 reaches NW Suburban commuters. With a site that is within 2 miles of O'Hare International Airport, and on the main route between Downtown and hard-to-reach suburbs such as Barrington, Hoffman Estates, and Schaumburg (Woodfield Mall), this sign is extremely valuable in any general market showing.

Location Tri State (I 294) 100' N/O 87th Street W/L
Media/Style Permanent Bulletin/Regular
Impressions 621,000/week
Advertising Strengths This unit is located on the Tri-State Tollway (I-294), a primary expressway in southwestern Chicagoland connecting with all major expressways from Indiana to Wisconsin. This unit get unmatched visibility as traffic backs up at the 87th Street Toll Plaza and it is the only one located on the west side of expressway.

Location I 290 At Mannheim Road, Westchester, Il, Facing West
Media/Style Permanent Bulletin/Regular
Impressions 358,000/week
Advertising Strengths This illuminated bulletin sits at the junction of I-290 E, I-88 E, and I-294 N &S, an area known to local commuters as “The Strangler.” The near-constant traffic jam here provides for an exceptionally long view time, including a front and center view for traffic heading south on Mannheim Road. Just steps away from the Hillside Town Center, this digital bulletin captures local shopper traffic, and well as commuters heading toward Chicago proper from O'Hare International Airport.

Location I 294 S Tri State Toll Wy Ws 150ft S/O 107th St F/S 1
Media/Style Digital Bulletin
Impressions 195,000/week
Advertising Strengths Spot Length: 10 seconds. These traffic patterns provide a very diverse audience, consisting of both local and interstate motorists. Showing to three lanes of southbound traffic, this bulletin offers excellent coverage to commuters from the affluent southwestern suburban communities of Hickory Hills, Oak Lawn, and Palos Hills. The Tri-State Tollway is a major north/south link of suburban Chicagoland and provides access to O'Hare International Airport for suburban commuters.

Location I 290 @ Des Plaines Avenue South Line
Media/Style Digital Bulletin
Impressions 599,000 /week
Advertising Strengths Directly Adjacent to the Eisenhower Expressway, ideally visible to inbound Chicago traffic. This digital bulletin is a 20 m state-of-the-art digital screen and is equipped with full color and high-definition graphics. The digital bulletin is programmed with an 80-second loop consisting of 8, 10 second spots. Viewed by a middle to upper income audience situated on the western Chicago border line, as well as traffic from the affluent western suburban areas of Oak Brook, Elmhurst, Lombard, Downers Grove, Glen Ellyn, and Hinsdale, just to name a few. The perfect sign! Right hand read at the curve of the exit.

Location: Eisenhower Expy (I 290) @ Laramie Ave S/L
Media/Style: Permanent Bulletin/Regular
Impressions: 290,000 /week
Advertising Strengths: This highly visible unit is on the Eisenhower Expwy (1-290), which is a major Chicagoland interstate connecting Chicago’s Loop to the western suburbs. This location in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood provides excellent coverage for upscale suburbanites and west suburban traffic going to/from the United Center, Illinois Medical District, the Loop Museum campus, and downtown Chicago’s many attractions.

Location I 290 Eisenhower Xwy Ss 0.3mi E/O Cicero Av F/E 1
Media/Style Permanent Bulletin/Regular
Impressions 518,000 /week
Advertising Strengths The Eisenhower Expressway is Chicago’s main east/west route. This expressway conducts traffic to and from the middle- and upper-income Western Suburbs into downtown business district. This bulletin is the focal point for the drivers as they sit in morning and evening rush hour. With extended viewing periods during heavy rush pecks, this display will provide the necessary coverage to the on-the-go commuter or consumers This bulletin provides great coverage to the airline travelers heading to Chicago’s Midway Airports via Cicero Avenue.

Location I294 Tri State Tollway Nb 100ft E/O Wolf Rd
Media/Style Permanent Bulletin/Regular
Impressions 847,000 /week
Advertising Strengths This unit is on the Tri-State Twy (I-294), which connects Chicagoland with Wisconsin and Indiana. Along its route, the Tri-State interacts with all Chicagoland’s major expressways and provides easy access to O'Hare International Airport. This location just south of the airport benefits from extremely long read times and provides excellent coverage for O'Hare travelers and traffic to/from the Fashion Outlets of Chicago, Rosemont Entertainment District, River’s Casino, and the area’s many lodging/restaurant/retail/ venues.

Location Kennedy Expy S/O North Avenue N/L
Media/Style Permanent Bulletin/Regular
Impressions 839,000 /week
Advertising Strengths This display dominates the Kennedy Expy, just south of the exit/entrance ramps at North Avenue in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood, known for live music/nightlife, chef-driven restaurants, and countless art/shopping venues. The Kennedy is one of Chicago’s busiest expressways connecting the Loop to O'Hare International Airport. While North Ave is a bustling surface street lined with busy retail and runs from the lakefront to the western suburbs. This unit provides excellent coverage for hip/trendy, families & high HHI.

The 2023–2024 Garofalo Fellowship concludes with an exhibition at the UIC School of Architecture, where Cédric Van Parys presents a series of photographic and sculptural artworks manifesting a conceptual and material appropriation. This is followed by a lecture at the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, Chicago. Below are images of the sculptural work in progress.

Exhibition at UIC

Opening Friday, April 5, 2024, 6pm
Dates April 5–May 3, 2024
Location School of Architecture at University of Illinois Chicago
845 West Harrison Street, Chicago, IL 60607
More information arch.uic.edu/events/sentinels-iron-portals-chicagoland-c%C3%A9dric-van-parys

Lecture at the Graham Foundation

Date Thursday, April 18, 2024, 6pm
Location Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts
4 West Burton Place, Chicago, IL 60610
More information grahamfoundation.org/public_events/6558-sentinels-iron-portals-of-chicagoland