Introduction to where I am coming from

I am curently in my master's thesis studio and classes. I am working on a project at the moment that is sited in the Pullman District of Chicago. The project is about the metamorphsis of a site, the way that a site changes and transforms to fit the needs of the human interactions on the site. IT is quite interesting and at least captures my imagination. The site lends itself to the thesis in many ways, it has preexisting condition, being an urban site, of existing buildings, a strong and proud history, it stands as the center point of the history in the area, and a strong pride in the community of its presence and continued use. The program then has built itself from the site and community that surrounds it.

The history of the site at 111th st and Cottage Groove Ave in Chicago is engraved in the lines of transportation, unionized worker, and business thinking that we see today, and was created by very original businessmen of the day. Pullman was the place where an older George Pullman diceided to design, build, and run a city that had better efficency. The city was built using local clay from Lake Calumet for the different bricks in the buildings. The city was planned to maintain it's own water supply from a main water tower at the center of the city, the sewage and trash would run through canals that lead to farms south of the city. The nthe farms would grow the food to support the city. This city was designed beautifully and was supposed to be the ultimate utopia that would benefit the factory business as well as give better living to the workers and their families. Pullman did work beautifully for about 10 years when it was accosted by the first hard depression that was hitting the country. The mixing of desired business profits and a slumping economy produced an explosion of striking workers with demands. The strikes allowed a good point for unions to push ther way into the forefront of workers rights, and became one of the first strikes implemented by a unionized force.

There is much more to how Pullman helped in deciding how the world is for us today. Pullman District is a strong connection as well to the transit that exists today that is more comfortable and appealing. In my program however it is the strength of the site as a once working and bountious factory for train cars that is the backbone in designing a musuem that celebrates travel and all of the possiblities, as well as a strong connection to the community and the history that the District itself has to offer.
We shall see how it goes! Sorry for an bad grammar, for I am not an english major.
For more information on the site check out these links:
http://www.pullmanil.org/
http://members.aol.com/pullmanil/
http://www.chicagohs.org/history/pullman.html

starting out!

This is mostly a test run to see how the blog appears and shows on the page. I will hopefully be able to connect the site correctly to this location.
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