You’ve seen Danny Boyle transform the Olympic stadium from a 19^th Century industrial landscape into the digital home of today. What happens when you give a 21st century design team the chance to do the same with Chicago’s suburban industrial wasteland?

See for yourself at MoMA’s show “Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream.” Although it closes tomorrow, the MoMA website has replicated everything on line–videos, maps, manifestos, and plans.

The proposed transformation of Cicero’s abandoned railside factories into a 21st century village where people work and live is particularly interesting. Abandoned factories currently take up 30% of Cicero. What if you redesigned it and let people buy only the parts of the home they need (vs. everyone living in a brick bungalow with a yard)? See the video and solution by Studio Gang Architects.

Cicero, Illinois and the proposal for the Vertical Neighborhood in the Garden in the Machine project by Studio Gang Architects. © 2011 James Ewing, photograph courtesy James Ewing.

Also, check out WORKac’s creation of “Nature-City” in a down-and-out Oregon suburb, Keizer. What happens when you integrate organic farming businesses and wildlife crossings into a village? Or MOS’s proposed transformation of The Oranges, New Jersey from a grid to a walking city.

Enjoy meeting our own artistic visionaries with Olympic-sized dreams on line.