It will be hard to top 2015, a year that saw the successful first run of the Chicago Architectural Biennial and exemplary new public spaces like the Chicago Riverwalk.
But 2016 still figures to be a special year, one that will decide the direction of such high-profile projects as the Obama Presidential Center and the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
Here’s what’s coming up:
Obama Presidential Center: Two big decisions will be made this year about the future of the Obama Presidential Center: Who will design it and where it will be built. They could turn out to be interrelated.
In December, the Barack Obama Foundation announced seven architectural firms that are finalists for the coveted commission.
They include two European firms, London-based Adjaye Associates and the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, which has offices in Paris and Genoa, Italy, in addition to a New York outpost. Also named as finalists were Chicago’s John Ronan Architects and four firms based in New York: Diller Scofidio + Renfro, ShoP Architects, Snohetta, and Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects.
The finalists will prepare conceptual designs for both sites under consideration for the center, Washington and Jackson parks. The center, which will house an archive and museum devoted to the Obama presidency, is expected to cost at least $500 million. It is anticipated that President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will select a winner by mid-2016.
Pritzker Architecture Prize: The winner of the field’s highest honor will be announced Jan. 13. Sponsored by the billionaire Pritzker family of Chicago, the award recognizes “consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture.”
Last year’s winner was the late German architect Frei Otto, best known for the tentlike structures of the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The award was announced a day after Otto’s death.
Lucas Museum of Narrative Art: The next scheduled court date in the legal battle over the museum that “Star Wars” creator George Lucas wants to build on Chicago’s lakefront is Feb. 4.
Federal Judge John Darrah is presiding over the case, which pits the open-space group Friends of the Parks against the city of Chicago.
City boards already have approved the planned museum, which would be built between Soldier Field and McCormick Place, and would house a collection that illustrates the evolution of storytelling.
The controversial design, by Chinese architect Ma Yansong, calls for a sculpted, twin-peaked structure that, at 151 feet, would be as tall as Soldier Field.
Navy Pier centennial: The popular pier will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a new Ferris wheel and fountain.
The wheel, which will feature temperature-controlled gondolas, will be nearly 200 feet tall, some 50 feet higher than its predecessor but considerably shorter than such iconic observation wheels as the London Eye.
The new Polk Bros. fountain and plaza will debut to the west of the pier, as will a renovation of the pier’s pedestrian promenade, designed by New York’s Field Operations. The new features are scheduled to be dedicated in late May or early June, according to pier spokesman Nick Shields.
Wrigley Field renovation: The latest phase in the Cubs’ multiyear renovation of Wrigley Field will deliver a new clubhouse, ticket office and center field bleacher upgrades, said team spokesman Julian Green.
Last year’s changes were highlighted by two big outfield video boards that provided fans with myriad statistics (and ads) but also overshadowed Wrigley’s historic center field scoreboard.
Lighting improvements for the old scoreboard will be made in 2016, Green said. Chicago’s VOA Associates is the architect.
Writers Theatre: The new home of the Glencoe theater, designed by Chicago’s Studio Gang Architects, will host opening celebrations in February and its first preview performances in March.
The building will house two theaters, replacing the theater’s current home, an intimate space squeezed into a bookshop. The design’s focal point is a main lobby framed with wood trusses and featuring an upper-level interior walkway.
Wolf Point West: This 48-story apartment tower, the first of three skyscrapers planned for Chicago’s Wolf Point, will begin greeting tenants in mid-January.
Called Wolf Point West, the glass-sheathed tower rises at the meeting of the Chicago River’s north and south branches. It was designed by Chicago’s bKL Architecture.
Lakefront pavilions: Four new pavilions will take shape on the lakefront, a legacy of the Chicago Architecture Biennial.
The biggest of the four, a low-slung wood structure, is in place on the Museum Campus near the Shedd Aquarium. The designers are Ultramoderne, a team from Rhode Island.
The other pavilions will be built at two North Side locations, Montrose Beach and North Avenue Beach, and at the Harold Washington Playlot Park, 5200 S. Hyde Park Blvd. The pavilions will house food vendors and other uses.
Venice Architecture Biennale: With the end of Chicago’s architecture biennial on Sunday, the baton will be passed back to Venice, which will hold its 15th international architecture exhibition from May 28 to Nov. 27.
The event’s director, Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena, has sounded notes that echo the socially conscious agenda of the Chicago biennial.
“We would like to show that in the permanent debate about the quality of the built environment, there is not only need but also room for action,” Aravena said in a news release.
World Trade Center Transportation Hub: The long-delayed Santiago Calatrava-designed hub, which has been plagued by cost overruns, is finally expected to open.
The hub’s centerpiece will be a soaring, winged pavilion, called the Oculus, which will house an indoor mall ringed with two levels of shops and restaurants.
The mall is now expected to debut in the first half of 2016. The price of the rail terminal, reportedly nearing $4 billion, has nearly doubled since it was announced more than a decade ago.
National Museum of African American History and Culture: A late 2016 opening is anticipated for the museum, chiefly designed by the Tanzanian-born Adjaye. The site is alongside the Washington Monument.
The museum’s exterior has a crown-like silhouette inspired by African art.
Blair Kamin is a Tribune critic.
Twitter @BlairKamin
