Jan 29th 2021

IIT Architecture Student Receives Chicago Women in Architecture Scholarship

At the end of each year, Chicago Women in Architecture presents its annual Gertrude Lempp Kerbis Scholarships to architecture students in their final year of study. Among the recipients this year was Amandeep Panach (M.ARCH. Candidate).

Panach was recognized for her work on “Performing Lantern,” a proposal for a theater on a tract of land near Goose Island along the Chicago River. Currently, the space is a truck yard, but the project, completed with fellow students Abdallah Al-Qudsi and Sheena Chow, envisions a complex of three theaters weaved together by indoor and outdoor community spaces on the landscape.

“This was a really intriguing site to work on, and the project made us really think how we can bring water back into the lives of the people living in that area,” says Panach. “That's how we started designing. We articulated the way people would approach the site and that informed the shape of the building.”Specifically, the building’s form is informed by the three access points to the site: the water taxi by the river, a proposed train station, and car and bike access from the street. Those entrances meet in a covered outdoor space that links the three theaters together. The theaters take on different layouts and designs from different performances: a cabaret theater for more informal shows, a black box theater that serves as a flexible performance space, and a more traditional theater stage with tiered seating.

“It feels great to be recognized, especially on this particular project. A lot of work went into creating this, which I think was one of my strongest projects as a student,” says Panach.


Images courtesy Amandeep Panach.