Chicago Tribune — “A Blueprint for a New American Dream: Will Architect Jeanne Gang’s Ideas for Cicero Work in the Real World?”
February 13, 2012
“Cicero, infamous for its history of corruption, and Jeanne Gang, famous for her futuristic buildings, would seem an unlikely pair. But something unexpected has brought them together: America’s foreclosure crisis.
On a recent morning, Gang drove her gray Toyota Prius past the town’s sturdy but overcrowded brick bungalows and envisioned something different: a high-rise resembling a Rubik’s Cube, its profile constantly shifting as affordable units for living and working are plugged into its superstructure, each tailored to the needs of residents.
A concept rather than a blueprint, her plan will be prominently featured in an exhibition, ‘Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream,’ that opens Wednesday at New York’s Museum of Modern Art and is sure to be provocative.
The Chicago architect, who won acclaim in 2009 for the undulating silhouette of her Aqua tower and last year was awarded a MacArthur ‘genius’ grant, leads one of five teams that were asked by the museum and Columbia University’s Center for the Study of American Architecture to formulate new housing prototypes in response to the national foreclosure epidemic.”
