Rebel Garages
Alternative Archives, New Futures, and Co-Conspirators for Disobedient Alley Architecture
Ann Lui & Craig Reschke
Chicago Architecture Center
2009
“Looking closely today, we can see how the alleys are a world unto themselves. On one hand, they are sites of civic infrastructure: collecting trash and delivering power to each house, regulated by Chicago's Department of Transportation, cyclically reborn each year between winter's potholes and summer's repaving. On the other hand, they are sites of social engagement and exchange: where kids learn to ride a bike or play ball; where jazz musicians change the beat; where we argue with our neighborhors; where scrappers hunt through daily discards for recycled wealth; and where we slip through a shortcut to the place we need to go."
"The Traveling Garbage Burner of Chicago," Scientific American, 1893