Chicago's Taylor Street Apartments and Little Italy Branch Library is an example of an emerging building typology that blends a mixed-income residential building with a bustling public library. It is also the city's first co-located project for the Chicago Housing Authority and Chicago Public Library. Situated on the corner of West Taylor and Ada streets on the city's West Side, the new facility synergizes its two unique programs and serves as a critical hub for the surrounding community.
To activate the street and respect the neighborhood's scale and texture, the design team set the building back and staggered it across the site. In doing so, it created a new public space and preserved Taylor Street Farm, an adjacent community garden. With its prominent location, the building eagerly welcomes patrons into its bright and soaring open spaces designed for a wide range of ages.
(Source: https://www.aia.org/showcases/6392661-taylor-street-apartments-and-little-italy-)
The Taylor Street Apartments and Little Italy Branch Library realizes an innovative approach to mixed-use development and provides affordable housing, flexible learning spaces, and versatile programming to the Near West Side neighborhood.
