During the last Version festival (Version 09) Hui-min sent us this unique proposal and we didn’t know what to expect. For the few dozen people that managed to meet at the Southwest corner of State and Wacker in front of the Renaissance Hotel with the $2.25 suggested train fare it was a trip they would never forget. We asked Hui-min if she would do it again and to give us a quick little Q and A.
Lumpen : Why a pedway tour? What led you to explore it?
Hui -min Tsen : For quite a while my work has looked at urban spaces and the mental constructions surrounding them, such as fear, attachment, and belonging. These projects often involved mapping and walks. When I first moved to Chicago I was working on some unsuccessful walking projects in search of the Mythic City, a city which, like the Mythic West, lives primarily in the imagination. When I stumbled across the Pedway I saw in it my Atlantis, a trace of this Mythic City I had been looking for. I began exploring it looking for secret passages and connections and the possibilities of what lay at the other end. At the same time, I began researching the origins of multi-level walkways and ideal, built environments. The more I explored, the more the Pedway seemed to tell a story with a beginning and end. The story/path was very difficult to navigate, however, so clearly there was a need for a guide to help other people.
Lumpen : Can you tell me a few little known facts about the pedway?
Hui -min Tsen : The tour doesn’t have a strong concentration on facts, but here’s a few. The main path of the Pedway is above ground about a third of the time and has five overpasses. From the fourth overpass you get a view of the Tribune Tower. You can get married, visit the Fox TV station, and eat at two different Tokyo Lunch Boxes all in the Pedway. Also, the first tunnel in the Pedway was built just one year after Chicago’s population peaked at almost three million people in 1950.
Lumpen : What’s your favorite part of the tour?
Hui -min Tsen : I really like how the Pedway operates as a long continuous space connecting the buildings. If I had to pick a favorite part, though, I would say the ascent to street level east of Michigan Avenue. By then it’s been a mile since you’ve seen daylight and you get in this little tiny elevator with mislabeled buttons. You aren’t quite sure where you are, so it’s always a surprise to move from the grimy train station underground into a clean, bright office building above ground.
Lumpen : If you could extend and redesign the underground pedway system where else would you like it to go?
Hui -min Tsen : I would like it to keep evolving in this haphazard and crooked path it’s been taking, because it’s such an adventure to see where it takes you. Maybe it could move north of the river, or continue out in its current direction until it descends beneath Lake Michigan.
Take the next tour on Friday, June 19th at
2PM. The meeting place is outside the
Renaissance Hotel on State and Wacker.
Visit: www.chicagopedwaytour.com