Come Home Chicago

In cooperation with the City of Chicago, the Chicago Architecture Center (CAC) recently announced the Come Home Initiative, which aims to reverse decades of disinvestment and depopulation and transform the urban fabric of Chicago’s South and West Side neighborhoods.

Come Home is a design and wealth-building competition that supports “missing middle density” infill housing in Auburn Gresham, Bronzeville, East Garfield Park, Englewood, Humboldt Park and Woodlawn. The CAC issued a Request for Qualifications inviting architects to reimagine Chicago’s single-family, two- and three-flat, rowhouse and six-flat typologies to meet 21st-century lifestyles.

Below is LJC’s design submission, a six-flat reimagined.

GROW CHICAGO empowers families to flourish.

This design supports individual, familial, and generational growth through home ownership in Chicago. By supporting entry-level home ownership with the opportunity to expand over time, GROW CHICAGO provides a unique collection of units of various sizes and scales, allowing flexibility of living.

Each GROW CHICAGO building comprises one four-bedroom unit, two three-bedroom units, two two-bedroom + den units, and two studio units, allowing for diverse ownership options and lifestyles. The variety of unit sizes within GROW CHICAGO empowers homeowners to expand or contract their home to accommodate their needs through various life stages.

An individual can begin their ownership journey by investing in a studio unit and can then purchase a larger unit in the same building or combine units as their family grows. For example, a small family might expand from a two-bedroom unit by adding an adjacent studio and connecting them through a designed connection point. A large family could grow from a four-bedroom to a neighboring two-bedroom for aging parents, or a studio next door could become their children’s first home as they become adults. In short, GROW CHICAGO gives opportunities for home ownership to change as we do, providing a direct path to home ownership, building generational wealth under one roof, and giving our neighbors the opportunity to come home.