Chicago Illinois, USA

Demolished 2025

This is the only site I submitted to this project myself. It’s a mosaic that I made for the CTA Francisco Station in 2007. I remember vividly directly the installation from hospital as I was giving birth to my son. 9/11 wasn’t that distant at the time and I wanted to reclaim the beautiful Islamic carpet tradition as a symbol of welcome and luxury for everyday commuters. There was a small and truly magical local outcry about the carpet — someone complained that having such a beautiful entrance might make people think that people in the neighborhood thought better of themselves than others — I pointed out that the carpet was literally being rolled out for visitors which seemed to calm the controversy. Sadly, the carpet had been designed to be installed over underfloor heating, which failed after the first winter. There were never funds to replace or repair the heating. After 18 years of salting and scraping in the harsh Chicago winters, only a fraction of the mosaic remained and it has been removed.

No. 308