Quote:
Originally Posted by ardecila
Any number of talented local and regional firms. JGMA, Ronan, Wheeler Kearns, Ross Barney all have bold young voices and a successful history of innovative institutional projects. Perhaps some of them did compete for this opportunity. But even these practices are "established".
What I'd love to see is something like NYC's Project Excellence where city staff can help smaller firms navigate the thicket of red tape and bureaucracy. That stuff can take up a whole bunch of time and brain damage, so in Chicago a lot of talented smaller firms stay away. Accurate or not, there's still a reputation that a lot of these jobs are awarded as patronage to firms that are well-connected, not necessarily those who will deliver the best or most creative results. An excellence program sends a strong message that political connections are not required.
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This... To be a leading city in architecture is to not only accept the greats but find the up and comings. Then again UofI might not care about this narrative, and would be up to the city government to push.