Architecture Graduate Student Wins 2018 Chicago Women in Architecture Award

Junghyo Woo (M.Arch. candidate), a graduate student in Illinois Tech’s College of Architecture, was the recipient of a 2018 Chicago Women in Architecture Award, a scholarship given to a female student of architecture in the final year of her studies who submits an outstanding design studio project.

Woo was awarded first place for her Bridgeport Innovation Center project design.

The Bridgeport Innovation Center is a 113,000-square-foot co-making and co-working facility at the northeast end of the Roots + Seeds redevelopment plan. The building seeks to build a community of makers within Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood and the greater Chicago area by providing a platform for living, making, and innovating. The building features a 540-foot-long, continuous manufacturing hall with spaces for fabrication, prototyping, electronics, and a small microfactory. The office programs, rather than interrupt that manufacturing floor, are lifted from the space to be suspended from the ceiling. The building is one directional, prioritizing the riverfront while using the southeast wall to house less-desirable program elements such as mechanical components and restrooms. By utilizing the riverfront as its community event space, the Bridgeport Innovation Center can share its spirit of co-working and co-making with the local community. 

Woo will receive her master’s degree in May, and upon graduation she hopes to continue her passion for architecture by working as a responsible designer.