Worker Cottage Parklet 2018

Location: Milwaukee Ave and Wood St, Chicago, IL

Dimensions: 25’ x 15’ x 12’

Medium: Glass brick, steel, programmable LEDs, cobblestones, limestone, native plants

Client: Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce

Budget: $80,000

Fabricators: Douglas Masonry, RGB Lights, Vector Custom Fabricating

The Worker Cottage Parklet is a tribute to the workers of the past, present and future who make their homes in the Bucktown and Wicker Park neighborhoods of Chicago. Between 1870 and 1910 thousands of “worker cottages” were built to house the Scandinavian, German, southern and eastern European immigrants who arrived for jobs in the stockyards, brick, and leather factories along the Chicago River, and to rebuild the city after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. These cottages were the first affordable homes available to working class citizens, with modern conveniences such as indoor plumbing, kitchen apart from dining room, and separate bedrooms for children.