"Parallel Histories is a pavilion made up of small, temporary structures representing the footprint of DuSable's homestead, on a park that Ross Barney Architects is revamping where the Chicago River meets Lake Michigan."

In this recent article, Dezeen highlights Ross Barney Architect's newly built structures, Parallel Histories, located on the foundation of the future DuSable Park. In conjunction with the Chicago Architecture Biennial, each structure features a question that prompts the viewer to reflect on the history of the city in which they stand. To read the full article, click here.

"Just Keep Scrolling: Five Years of Headlines"

"To remember the recent past, we’ve created a textual collage of words that fills the next five pages, one for each year, playing with the publication’s sense of humor. It’s a literal wall of text that shows a bit of what we’ve been up to." –The Architect's Newspaper

As 2023 comes to a close, The Architect's Magazine celebrates 20 years of print production. In a stylized fashion, "Just Keep Scrolling" features word-cloud-esque spreads, filled with over 200 article titles in the last five years. Looking closely, you can spot a 2022 title, recognizing the 2023 AIA Gold Medal Award recipient. Click the title to read the original article, "Eye on the Prize: AIA awards 2023 Gold Medal to Carol Ross Barney"., and to read the The Architect's Newspaper 20th anniversary article, click here.

Emily Grandstaff-Rice, FAIA, 2023 AIA President, reflects upon honoring Carol with the Gold Medal award at the AIA 2023 Conference. She offers insight into how AIA is working to be an advocate of change, advancing and promoting diversity and inclusion in the field of architecture. Click here to read the full reflection.

"From community buildings to campus buildings for premier academic and research institutions, to groundbreaking transit stations that connect vibrant neighborhoods, Ross Barney Architects has produced distinctive structures that have become community icons."⁠

Ross Barney Architects is ranked among the 20 Best Architecture Firms in Chicago by Architizer. Click here to read more about the ranking process and other Chicago firms on the list.

The latest issue of Architectural Products features the McDonald's Global Flagship franchises in Chicago and Walt Disney World, highlighting their Net Zero and LEED Platinum certifications. Click here to read the full feature, offering insight into the processes and outcomes.

Work on the CTA Blue Line Racine station progresses as the permit to begin the reconstruction is issued. Renderings of the updated station located in the Near West Side have been released and can be found, along with more information on the project, in a recent article by Chicago YIMBY. Click here to read more.

“The lack of design is an economic problem, and the value it brings is far in excess of its economic cost.”

Read Carol’s latest interview in Dezeen here.

My studio was criticized for years and years because we didn’t have a signature. Each project looks different. And that was seen as bad: “You should be producing a philosophy and perfecting it and bringing it to fruition.” But I’ve always thought that it is the process of design I’m perfecting, where I can truly understand the needs of a community and a site and a culture and a situation and make a design that’s beautiful.

Read more of Carol's interview in Chicago Magazine here.

"With no specific style that defines her work, she develops multiple solutions to every project and works with her client to choose which direction to pursue together. “I paid for that for a long time,” she says. “They’d say, ‘Carol’s a good architect, but she has no signature.’” But over the course of her career, this method of practice has been recognized for its ability to create a rich dialogue between architect and client that encourages multiple voices to contribute to a decidedly democratic process. This results in more nuanced and successful projects that better serve the communities that interact with them—and that are diverse in their design approach."

Click here to read the full interview.

"Carol's work celebrates the connections between people and places. She is the driving creative force behind innovative humanitarian designs."

The latest edition of Chicago Architect Magazine is now available featuring a profile of Carol from our colleague and friend Patricia Saldaña Natke, FAIA, NCARB, ALA. Read it online here.

In April, Jen Masengarb, Assoc. AIA, Executive Director, sat down for a conversation with Carol Ross Barney, FAIA, winner of the 2023 AIA Gold Medal.
 

"We help by engaged community design. A big problem we’re wrestling with in Chicago right now is diversity and equity. Without engagement and education, architectural styles can represent economic achievement or classes. We need to help people think more creatively and aggressively about what space can do for them." - Carol

Click here to read the interview.

The Chicago Riverwalk is featured among other water redevelopments for its ecological, recreational and economic benefits of the city.

"The redevelopment of maritime and riverfront areas is a crucial element in the transformation of many urban areas, providing a series of significant benefits for cities and their inhabitants. The presence of water, whether in rivers, lakes or seas, has historically played a fundamental role in the formation and development of many cities, intimately related to their dynamics. This relationship has changed and presented itself in different ways over time, and these spaces have often been neglected in numerous ways, particularly by a certain type of urban planning that disregarded their potential in favor of other imperatives."

Click here to read more.