Losing Our Third Spaces
The COVID pandemic has tragically taken more than 500,000 human lives in the US alone. In the early days of the pandemic, with no other options, the State of Illinois used the blunt force of a shut down to stop the spread of the virus. Lives were saved, but many small businesses died. As a series of restrictions on businesses continue to tighten and relax, we find ourselves losing something more than just commerce. We are losing our third spaces.
Outside of our homes and work, we all are regulars in third spaces where we gather and socialize. They enrich our lives and are integral parts of how we define our cities. From restaurants to bars to theaters, these third spaces are closing on a weekly basis. Many of them risk becoming nothing more than fuzzy memories that slide away into obscurity.
Every week, Eater Chicago would list all of the third spaces lost that week. Above are how many were lost per month in 2020.
This project is an inventory of businesses that were some of Chicago’s third spaces and are now lost to the COVID pandemic. Through photography and narrative, each business has been captured after it was closed so that we may remember them after they vanish from the urban landscape forever.
This project sought to inventory the third spaces lost in 2020 to the COVID pandemic. Because businesses closed so rapidly, it was not possible to capture every lost third space before their identifying features were pulled off of the buildings. Below are only a portion of the businesses lost in 2020.
