2021 IN REVIEW

 
 
 

As we look forward to the new year, we’re looking back on 2021 and reflecting on our journey back to the office, back to the city, and back into our communities.

We can all agree that this year was a roller coaster, with peaks and valleys, good times and more uncertainty.

At Eastlake Studio, we found ourselves moving back into familiarities, and returning city life. We embraced the new normal as a fully-vaccinated office, settling into a hybrid work schedule with days in and out of the studio. We began new studio initiatives, including Thursday social lunches and small team dinners.

We stayed busy, and our staff grew by seven designers. Project work includes iManage’s blue headquarters, a riverside amenities lounge space, a seven-story office building in Grand Rapids, numerous marketing suites in the Loop, and more.

We deepened our focus on community work by creating our first permanent non-profit structure—part outdoor gallery, part stage, part park—that we hope will be enjoyed by many for years to come. Sounding Boards Garden was also our first inclusion in the Chicago Architecture Biennial.

Also in 2021, we presented at AIA’s national conference, led talks for IIDA Illinois, and spearheaded our own series on women in the fields of architecture and design. We attended NeoCon in person! 33 E Washington/SAIC’s Galleries and Grad Studios received an AIA Chicago Interior Design Honor Award, and was a finalist in Interior Design’s annual Best of Design list, and our project work and thought leadership received recognition from RE: Journals, AWI, ThinkLab, and Chicago Architect.

Here’s to 2022! We hope we can continue the shift back to what’s good, and we look forward to more togetherness, comfort, safety, and inclusivity.

 
 
 
Eastlake Studio