Chicago: Dearborn Street & Michigan Avenue

En una ciudad de rascacielos, son importantes sus anclajes, es decir, sus plantas bajas. Que estas no sirvan sólo de ascensor, lo cual conllevaría a la no construcción de la ciudad, sino de ‘islas’ edificios o microciudades aisladas. Para construir ciudad es necesario que la planta baja ejerza de filtro entre el edificio y la calle, y que, en conjunto, constituyan una secuencia. Partiendo de esta premisa, para entender cómo se ha formado el espacio público en la ciudad de Chicago, es decir, cómo se ha construído la ciudad, analizaremos la planta baja de una serie de edificios que nos resulten interesantes, en un marco urbano común, el Loop, para así poder compararlos y ver si realmente hacen ciudad. Observamos que la mayoría de casos escogidos se agrupan alrededor de dos calles, Dearborn Street (eje cívico principal) y Michigan Avenue (principal avenida comercial). Es así como estas devienen el caso de estudio en sí.Chicago, Dearborn Street, Michigan Avenue, limit, border, threshold, ground floor, urban secuence,secuencia urbana, límite, umbral, transiciones, filtros, planta baja, canopia, pavimento, calle, planta baja. Chicago: Dearborn St & Michigan Ave 2 Núria Morey Camacho 3 This thesis is a tribute to the city of Chicago, where I had the privilege to live during last year. It tries to understand how public space has been created over time, defining as public the space at the service of the pedestrian, the ‘flanéur’. In the metropolis of the skyscraper, its anchors are important, that is, its ground floors. To avoid the dissociation of the building and the city, which would lead to its own destruction, they must act as filters. Thus, through the study of a series of representative projects of each constructive stage of the city, I intend to determine how they ‘touch’ the ground and which elements are those that act as a transition between public and private space, and, therefore, contribute to build the city. For the selection of the different case studies, I will focus on an area in the downtown or Loop, in order to draw them in a common urban framework. Immediately, we will see that most of them are grouped in two axes, Dearborn Street (civic axis) and Michigan Avenue (commercial avenue), creating an urban sequence. Thus, we can understand the ground floors that we analyze as pieces that end up building a larger ‘gear’: these two streets. And therefore, they become the main case study.Award-winnin