Chicago’s growth into a modern city from a small frontier town has been fueled in large part by the city’s location at the confluence of the Chicago River with Lake Michigan and its rail infrastructure. These two life lines are the basis for this submission. The Chicago River has played an important role in the city’s development while major public works projects have shaped the river’s directional flow and even its location in the landscape.  The rail yards within the project site precipitated the need for the river to be straightened thus resulting in the river’s location today.  Although the river does not serve as a major route for moving materials as it once did, this proposal sees the river as a recreational attraction with great park space along both sides of the river as well as a new canal which slices through the residential east side of the river. The existing rail yards west of the river include abundant park space as well as commercial and light industrial developments.  A new high-speed elevated rail line is celebrated through a bold viaduct terminating in a grand rail station in what is currently the abandoned post office building.  The Union Station Power Station is also converted into a Chicago River and Rail Museum.  This new rail centric idea is also the main sustainable feature by which individual automobile traffic is greatly reduced and a model for high-density development is the result.  This new rail station sits above Congress Parkway giving it a sense of prominence over automobile traffic.  Pedestrian movement throughout the masterplan is enhanced as pedestrian-only streets cut diagonally through the plan to the heart of the development just south of Roosevelt Road.  Three pedestrian “Loop” bridges act to connect both sides of the river and serve as nodes for gatherings and access between the site and the Loop to the north and Chinatown to the south. This solution pays homage to Chicago’s rich history of interventions through its river and rails as it continues to grow as a great world city.