Tracking Wacker combines ecology and spectacle to highlight the importance of riverways in Chicago. Infrastructure planning from past generations has created a waterfront site that is visually prominent yet completely inaccessible. The roadways divert polluted run-off directly into the river. Tracking Wacker is an alternative, experiential nature walk that connects between W Harrison St to W Van Buren St.
A eld of wind-belt poles activate the senses to the natural phenomenon of wind. Each wind-belt pole is topped with an LED light, powered by the wind harvesting technology. These lights come to life with the river’s breeze, thus giving a real-time visualization of a natural energy resource. Ambient lighting and color shifts, sounds of buzzing belts, and visualizations create an atmospheric condition unlike anything else in the world.
Drag the slider left and right to see how this site looks now compared to if this idea were built.
