NAV hotel project, Columbus Dr. at the Chicago River

Hospitality Design sponsors an annual competition for interiors projects in a number of categories, including student work (why doesn’t the AIA do something like this for students?  Good question…)  This year they recognized two student projects, one of which was from the hotel studio I taught last Spring with ID professor Cigdem Akkurt.  Congrats to Hilary Navratil, Stephanie Smothers, and Steve Sanda, whose collaboration you see to the left.

Chicagoans will recognize the site, at Columbus Drive and the River and right in front of the NBC Tower–one of those empty bits of land that you can’t quite believe hasn’t been developed yet.  Their scheme featured a thoughtful connection to the riverwalk, an urban scaled function and dining volume to the east, and a tower that picked up cues from surrounding buildings while standing out as a landmark on the riverfront.

The three of them get to go to New York for the awards ceremony later this summer, which we think is richly deserved…