Great Lakes by Design — "River in Motion"

“In 2011, Studio Gang published Reverse Effect: Renewing Chicago’s Waterways, which sought to address the growing complex challenges facing the waterways of Chicago and envisioned a revolution of ecological proportions on its riverfront. The result of a collaboration among Studio Gang, the Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC, and students from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Reverse Effect was inspired by NRDC’s 2010 report’s recommendation of a barrier in the Chicago River’s South Branch. The planned barrier would separate the Great Lakes and Mississippi Watersheds, preventing invasive carp from being introduced in the Lake Michigan ecosystem. Intended as a tool to empower, reimagine, and reshape the river’s future—and a larger national river renaissance—Reverse Effect is a 116-page exploration of renewal of both waterway and neighborhood written by Jeanne Gang. One outcome of the environmental advocacy displayed in the book would begin in the very year it was published, as development began for two boathouse projects on the Chicago River: the WMS Boathouse at Clark Park and Eleanor Boathouse at Park 571. Though not identical, the projects were designed with equity in mind and are thought of as a pair.”

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