Designed by Chicago

Chicago has a lot of designers - from fashion and animation to advertising and urban planning. Some of these designers focus on functional, inclusive community spaces. They even have the power to influence or shape how we feel and interact with the world around us, such as moving from one part of the city to another. Other designers create things for playful amusement or purely aesthetic appeal.  

To give you an example of a designed object, look at the Ferris wheel. Have you ever wondered why there is an incredibly large Ferris wheel associated with our city? This is because the first-ever Ferris Wheel was designed by George Ferris, Jr. for Chicago's Columbian Exposition in 1893. Associated with Chicago ever since, our fair city has a Ferris wheel on Navy Pier which continues to draw tourists year-round for rides and incredible views. 

Reading 

Some of my favorite types of designers are those who work on children's books, and especially the artists who illustrate them. There are too many gorgeously designed and illustrated books and styles to mention, so I'll just share one series I think is super fun for kids: I Spy books!

I Spy A to Z: The newest in the I Spy series - just like all the others - has objects hidden in the pictures - and this time they are alphabet letters! I could spend easily spend hours poring over the tiny objects and definitely enjoy the puzzles and clues to help one find the letters.

What's That Building?: There is an architect hiding in each building in this oversized "Search and Find" book. There are also puzzles with clues for you to use to guess what each building is used for. For instance, what kind of building do you think you need for learning about the past and future? How about for hosting hundreds of shoppers?

For something completely different, check out Cardboard Box Engineering: Not only does this introduce the art of recycling materials, like cardboard boxes and paper towel rolls, it has a lot of fun engineering projects. You can try creating a robotic hand, a cup amplifier, marble chutes or even a handmade spinning art turntable! Every page has wonderful photographs with detailed instructions as well as interesting engineer spotlights.

Brain-Building Activities

• Right now, more and more bike-protected lanes are being developed to make biking safer in Chicago, in addition to over hundreds of miles of bike lanes in the city! What else would you design to ensure people can safely travel on sidewalks, in the road by bikes or cars as they get to school, camp, work or to visit friends and family in another neighborhood?
  
• Do you have empty rolls for toilet paper, paper towels, wrapping paper or anything else that you're planning to recycle soon? Don’t throw them away! Turn them into a miniature city, opens a new window with the help of a little paper and a lot of markers, crayons or paint!                            
• Use Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood as inspiration to design your own neighborhood while learning about geometric shapes. PBS has a fun tutorial on building a geodesic dome, opens a new window out of newspaper (or any other paper you might have). Be sure your city has everything people need (sidewalks, bike lanes, playgrounds, grocery stores, schools, libraries, hospitals, etc.)
• Public art in Chicago is part of urban planning and design processes. If you could design a sculpture for your neighborhood, what would it look like? Find things around your house, like tin cans and pencils and start creating. The possibilities are endless!               
• Did you know Chicago has its own special kind of brick? Walk as a family to identify some of your favorite neighborhood brick buildings.