The YH Public Market and Culinary Institute explores the junction between modernity and tradition in architecture while recognizing the dynamics of time. By beginning with an awareness of Chicago’s food history and the trajectory of the food industry, this new building creates a formal relationship between the past, present, and future. Often in architecture the brand-new state is idealized while the weathering a building will undergo is forgotten. The passage of time inevitably roughens architecture. The YH Public Market and Culinary Institute preserves rough elements of the past and joins them to new smooth elements establishing a picturesque juxtaposition of rough and smooth utilizing this contrast to emphasize their qualities. The project revitalizes an aging meat wholesale building on the site: YH Foods. Through this awareness of temporality, this project looks to celebrate the presence of time, recognize the past, and encourage change through the production and growth of food.
