The Northerly Island Airship Terminal

Location: Chicago
Building Area: 250,000 sf
Client: IIT - Professor Martin Kläschen

The Northerly Island Airship Terminal is a transportation center that is a gateway between airships, water taxis, automobiles and pedestrians while also linking the city to a wildlife park.

The unique site is deeply a part of Chicago’s history. Since it was first seen in Burnham’s 1909 plan, the island has been home to the Adler Planetarium and the “Century of Progress” World’s Fair. It was a candidate for the United Nations Headquarters and has until recently been an airport.

Since the airport was removed, a temporary concert pavilion has been erected and the city has been looking into multiple uses for the island ranging from a home to temporary stadiums to a wildlife park.

Due to rising transportation costs among other factors the airship is being reevaluated as an alternative to many forms of transportation ranging from local to regional commuting to intercontinental tourism in the vein of cruise ships.

The project is an interface between all of the elements that it links, urban to wild and land to water and air.

The urban strategy is developed by viewing the island as being composed of two zones. One is a zone for human outdoor activities such as sailing, beach going, picnicking, concerts etc... While the other is a zone is for nature and will be a constructed landscape modeled after the region’s natural geography, dune and swale.

The building is draped across the width of the island and forms the line at which the two zones unite. The airships land directly on top of the building while boats can pull in under the same roof.