November 4, 2014 by CallisonRTKL

A Fresh “Spark”

Over the weekend of October 18^th, The Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) threw a giant party at 150 different private venues across the city. For the third year in a row, RTKL was selected as one of the lucky hosts. The event, called Open House Chicago, was created to invite Chicagoans, tourists, suburbanites, students, and architecture fans from all over to enjoy this city’s little known architectural gems. In addition to design practices, churches, synagogues, schools, private clubs, residences, and quirky things like bridge houses were all available for tours. The impressive guest list of about 50,000 people had a blast.

Open House Chicago has grown exponentially since its inception in 2011. For RTKL’s 2014 exhibit, we decided to take a different approach and create an interactive environment for the large crowds we expected. We decided to ask our guests to engage with us by sharing their observations about mobility in Chicago, and the frustrations and successes the City of Big Shoulders has provided. The engagement took three forms: a conference-table-sized map of Chicago, where we asked visitors to look at and mark where they traveled from and what mode of transportation they used with a color coded dot; a “Spark Wall,” where we asked everyone to share their thoughts on mobility and observations; and an iPad survey, pre-loaded with multiple choice questions about mobility issues.

Not surprisingly, our open house guests were not shy about sharing information. Interestingly, one survey question that asked if city dwellers would support a more robust bike lane system, even if it meant an increase in city taxes, was overwhelmingly positive. Mayor Emanuel, take note. Our Spark Wall was full on both days, our map contained well over 1,000 dots, and our survey yielded some great information which will be used to trigger both issues and solutions among teams in our first-ever Spark Week. This all-office RTKL event will challenge teams around the firm to think about mobility issues in their respective cities.

Over the two days of Open House Chicago, we hosted over 2,700 visitors to the office, all of whom were inspired by our work, our incredible views of the lakefront, and our willingness to ask our guests their opinions about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to getting around the city. During Spark Week, we’ll use that uniquely regional information as background intelligence for our charette sessions. Thanks, Chicago!

Stay tuned to You Are Here and RTKL’s social channels for the latest info on Spark Week. We encourage you to participate and share your thoughts by using #sparkweek.

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CallisonRTKL

For more than five decades, Callison and RTKL have created some of the world’s most memorable and successful environments for developers, retailers, investors, institutions and public entities. In 2015, our two practices came together under the Arcadis umbrella, expanding our sphere of influence and the depth and breadth of our resources. Our team is comprised of nearly 2,000 creative, innovative professionals throughout the world who are committed to advancing our client’s businesses and enhancing quality of life.