architecture

Monday, December 13, 2004

File Under Amazing

Chicago is abuzz with the story of Richard Dorsey a 36-year old "homeless" man evicted from a shelter he created on the underside of a drawbridge spanning the Chicago River near Lake Shore Drive.



Slipping through a 12x36" opening, Dorsey and a few other followers were able to wiggle down below the road level, hiding their shelter from below with blankets. Amazingly, Dorsey had a television, video game console, and other appliances hooked up to bridge electricity, living a relatively normal life regardless of the location. More amazingly, when the bridge would open to allow boats to pass, Dorsey would brace himself as he was slowly pushed forward into an upright position, something he described as like riding a ferris wheel after he got used to it.



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More images here.



In some ways the story points to the resilience of people and their ability to improvise in difficult situations, in order to survive. And that no matter what architects do, somebody else is doing something more interesting that architects would never dream up.

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