The Love Shack Activation

2024 | Wayfinding, Placemaking
Collaborators: Michelle Hernandez, Eric Von Haynes, James Wurm.

Hosted in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood, The Love Shack is one of 20 community-run, free-food fridges within the larger mutual aid network called The Love Fridge Chicago. Our team sought to activate the nearby fence, which is visible from the CTA's California Pink Line station platform. The goal was not only to present a wayfinding message to the nieghborhood's majority Spanish-speaking community on where folks can access free food (comida gratis), but also to illuminate the site at night. We designed the type with the fence's inherent diamond matrix in mind, laser cutting 375 squares of fluorescent acrylic. After testing the readability of the type from various vantage points, we installed just in time for winter. Black lights are turned on each night by fridge host, James Wurm, giving the site an other-wordly glow to match the outer space mural on the Love Shack's fridge. This was a collaborative process that took place over the course of four months. Full research deck available upon request.