Peeling back the park

Beneath Our Feet Exhibition

Location	Chicago, Illinois
Client	Floating Museum and Chicago Architecture Biennial
Expertise	Research & Design Innovation, Inclusive & Accessible Design
Completion	2023

Cab beneath our feet crown hall landscape exhibition site design group

In "Beneath Our Feet," the bones of a typical park landscape gave structure and form to dynamic, larger-than-life sculptural works within the Chicago Cultural Center's monumental Yates Gallery. The finished landscapes seen throughout a typical city were peeled back, revealing stark white geofoam blocks that served as the base for a sculpture garden containing over a dozen full-sized works. The relationship between observer and participant broke the fourth wall, inviting visitors to become part of the exhibit by walking within the immersive yet gallery-bound landscape. This new perspective shone a spotlight on an often-overlooked question: what really lies beneath our feet?

Cab beneath our feet exploded axon site design group

Axonometric mockup of the typical material layers in a park over structure.

The exhibit was purposely unfinished, with dimensions messily marked onto the blocks' faces. The in-progress feeling of the space was also a nod to the overall theme for the 2023 Chicago Architecture Biennial, CAB 5 "This Is a Rehearsal." Materials used to shape this exhibit were (and still are) intended to have a second life after the gallery closed and be repurposed for the construction of a new landscape in the city. Composed of expanded polystyrene (EPS), geofoam is often used to reduce overall weight, making it an ideal choice for creating topography for landscape architecture projects built over structures, such as bridges and rooftops. The ease of installation and customization allows designers to achieve precise geometries while maintaining the structural integrity of the underlying surface, whereas traditional fill materials like soil or aggregate can exert excessive pressure.

Nestled throughout the expansive gallery are a mixture of sculptures and architectural models, as well as some pieces that blur the lines between the two, such as Mies van der Rohe’s iconic Crown Hall reinvented as a coffin by Ghanaian artist Paa Joe.

In addition to materiality, "Beneath Our Feet" engaged visitors with the idea of how monuments and public art interplay with landscape architecture. Art in the public realm, in the form of installations, sculptures, murals, and fountains, can serve as powerful cultural, historical, and social symbols, and contribute to the identity of a place. Furthermore, the relationship between the monument and landscape frames the individual's experience and interaction. In a plaza, the sculpture becomes a meeting place; surrounded by landscape, the art piece offers a moment of meditation; perched on top of a hill, the monument becomes a beacon.