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May 10
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Patricia Saldaña Natke, Maria Pellot and Ameera Ashraf-O’Neil Participated in On the Table 2016

By Lectures/Presentations, Panels, Staff Happenings

Patricia Saldaña Natke, Maria Pellot and Ameera Ashraf-O’Neil joined Chicago-area residents in On the Table discussions in May 2016. Patricia participated in the conversation, “The State of Civic Engagement in Chicago” led by New Civics Chicago; Maria Pellot participated in “Envisioning Equitable Communities” led by Enterprise Community Partners, Inc.; and Ameera participated in “Creative Solutions to House and Feed all Chicagoans” led by the Society of Architectural Historians. On the Table is sponsored by Chicago Community Trust and is an annual forum designed to elevate civic conversation, foster new relationships and create a unifying experience across the Chicago-area. Thousands of residents participated in small-group conversations intended to inspire new ways to work together to make communities stronger, safer and more dynamic.

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Mar 29
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Patricia Saldaña Natke of Urbanworks Speaks at TEDxUChicago

By Lectures/Presentations, Staff Happenings

Patricia Saldaña Natke presents “Architecture & Design: Renewing the Social Agenda” at TEDx at the University of Chicago’s Logan Center on April 30, 2016. This year’s conference theme, On the Margins, focuses on the grey area between established knowledge and new theory. Where is innovation right now? How is existing knowledge being pushed to its limits? Patricia will present UrbanWorks’ bold Pilsen Masterplan including groundbreaking transformative LaCasa student housing. Created in the spirit of TED’s mission, “ideas worth spreading,” the TEDx program is designed to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue. Patricia joins ten other renowned speakers from a variety of backgrounds to present at this all-day conference. Read More

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Mar 14
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Presidential Candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton Visits La Casa

By Projects

Presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton visited the UrbanWorks-designed La Casa Student Housing in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood to discuss Immigration Reform today, Monday, March 14, 2016. She was joined by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez and Dolores Huerta, the famous founder of the farm workers movement. La Casa Student Housing is an innovative model in student housing that surrounds students with many of the benefits and resources of on-campus living and the added advantage of an on-site Resource Center. Read More

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Feb 26
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Trianon Lofts Featured in DNA Info Chicago

By Publications

UrbanWorks is the architect of the 24 unit Trianon Lofts for The Preservation of Affordable Housing. With an anticipating occupancy of late spring of 2017, the project includes 7,000 feet of retail on the ground floor and an articulated rainscreen-clad façade inspired by the traditional masonry buildings typical of the area. The result is a frankly efficient building whose mass and materials harmonize with its surroundings while its details offer a brightly contemporary look for its occupants. Read more

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Jan 20
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UrbanWorks Receives Two AIA Chicago Design Excellence Awards as Associate Architects

By Awards

UrbanWorks served as Associate Architects on the Ross Barney Architects team for the CTA Cermak-McCormick Place Station which received two 2015 AIA Chicago Design Excellence Awards. The project received the Distinguished Building Award for its overall design solution as well as the Divine Detail Award for its innovative “Traintube” of perforated aluminum shingles and a polycarbonate skylight. The team for this project also included sub consultants TY Lin International, Singh and Associates, and LTK Engineering, as well as contractor FH Paschen. The client was the Chicago Department of Transportation. Read more

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Jan 15
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Ann Panopio Joins UrbanWorks

By Staff Happenings

UrbanWorks is pleased to welcome Ann Panopio, AIA as Project Manager.  Ann brings over eighteen years of expertise in design, development and management. Ann’s portfolio includes multifamily housing, mixed-use, disaster relief, and health care, with an emphasis on fostering urban resiliency in underserved communities. Prior to joining UrbanWorks, Ann worked for various not-for-profit community design centers, most recently as the Associate Director of an organization focused on improving impoverished communities through design excellence and community engagement. Read more

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Dec 18
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Life Changers International Church Grand Opening

By Milestones

The UrbanWorks designed Life Changers International Church’s city campus officially opened on November 22, 2015. Set in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, this is Life Changers’ first urban spiritual center. The church chose this location to serve a need for contemplative and communal spaces in a dense urban environment and to secure its place as one of the most unique multicultural churches in America. The project is an adaptive reuse of an originally windowless, two story 63,000 square foot cold storage facility into an 870 person auditorium/worship center, with pre-function space, classrooms, and meeting spaces.

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Dec 18
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UrbanWorks Featured in “New Chicago Architecture” Exhibit

By Exhibits, Publications

Two UrbanWorks projects, La Casa Student Housing and Galewood Elementary School, were featured in the exhibition “New Chicago Architecture” curated by the Chicago Athenaeum. The week-long exhibition was attended by several thousands of people in Chicago, before traveling to Milan and Athens. This survey of New Chicago Architecture, featuring over 100 architecture practices – local, national, and international, offers new insight to the contemporary direction of Chicago Architecture today, highlighting the ambitions, challenges, and possibilities which are fueling the architecture profession. An accompanying book, “New Chicago Architecture” will be published in February 2016. The Chicago Athenaeum is an International Museum of Architecture and Design dedicated to the Art of Design. The exhibition took place from November 12-17, 2015 and was located at 332 S. Michigan, Chicago, Illinois.

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Dec 18
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Patricia Saldaña Natke Interviewed on Spanish Public Radio’s “Chicago Voices”

By 2015 Chicago Architecture Biennial, Publications, Staff Happenings

UrbanWorks Principal, Patricia Saldaña Natke, was interviewed on Spanish Public Radio’s “Chicago Voices” regarding the state of architecture and how the Chicago Architecture Biennial is facilitating the potential for a democratic exposure of world class art and architecture to Chicago’s residents. The firm’s award winning designs in Chicago’s Latino communities were highlighted in the discussion. The “Chicago Voices” program aired on November 15, 2015. Spanish Public Radio’s mission is to cultivate and sustain the Spanish-speaking community through a multi-media platform broadcast through the Internet. SPR broadcasts a highly relevant news, music, arts, culture, financial, and educational content in Spanish. Patricia was interviewed by Vincent Paglione, Executive board member of SPR. Read more

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Dec 15
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Current Exhibition of Productora/Urbanworks University of Chicago Green Line Art Center Design Team Submission Until Jan 8

By 2015 Chicago Architecture Biennial, Exhibits

As part of the 2015 Chicago Architecture Biennial, the Arts Incubator in Washington Park is holding an exhibition titled Forms of Imagination, exploring “the way Arts + Public Life creates ambitious public design and architecture projects that foster creative communities in Chicago’s mid-South Side.” Among works by other notable firms, Productura/UrbanWorks’ vision for the Green Line Art Center is on display. Productora from Mexico City and local firm UrbanWorks have teamed in an invited design competition for a new arts center to support the ambitions of artists and creative entrepreneurs. Led by artist and faculty member Theaster Gates and his team at Arts + Public Life, the new arts center will demonstrate the commitment to design excellence and creative reuse of existing vacant buildings. Read more

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