It’s called Jigzibik (JEEG-zeebeek), a Potawatomi word meaning “at the river’s edge.”
And while not exactly at the edge of the Chicago River – it’s just a few blocks from the river’s north branch – this $34 million, 45-unit, seven-storey affordable housing building, through design features, certainly nods in that direction. That’s important because the idea is to reference the area’s traditional Indigenous ties to the river.
“Water is life for Native Americans,” said Shelly Tucciarelli, a principal driver behind the project. “The site was very important to us being that close to the river because we’ve always traversed the waterways and that’s where we’ve always settled.
The building is one of a handful in the U.S. – and the first in Chicago – to be purpose built primarily for Native American residents. A land blessing ceremony in July launched construction in the north Chicago neighborhood with an opening date of late 2026 or early 2027.
Jigzibik had been in the planning stage for six years by the Native American Advisory Council and partner Visionary Ventures, which advocates for Native housing. But with $6 million from the city’s housing department and $2.5 million in low-income housing tax credits, the project is now underway. Organizers are also optimistic about obtaining an affordable housing grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank.
The seven-storey building has a contemporary style but is distinguished by Native American motifs. Designed by Chicago-based Canopy, whose members are partial to Indigenous themes, its façade is serrated with all balconies facing east.
Jaime Torres Carmona, Canopy’s founder and himself a member of the Mahica Tribe, said the project combines social housing with cultural relevance.
“There were lots of conversations about how we could use the building to represent community,” he said.
So, the serrated facade is symbolic of nature like a wheat stock with ridges which “reaches out like a fan,” he said. The serrations arise from the floorplan and balcony edges.
The building is also positioned to an eastern orientation with all balconies facing that direction.
“In Native cultures you really use the morning sun as a place to wake up and to recharge your energy,” he said.
The balconies also allow ceremonial burning of sage. And they have colorful elements symbolizing traditional female jingle attire.
Meanwhile across the front of the building is a blue bunting or wave.
“We really wanted to lean heavily on this notion of the river as a place for life, longevity and a place for transportation, so it’s really the dynamic element of geography,” Torres Carmona said.
He said staff wondered “wouldn’t it be cool” to incorporate the river motif. Therefore, a wave representing the mouth of the river starts at the building’s entrance.
“The blue band begins at the front door and then meanders up and splits into two just like how the Chicago River has a north and south branch.”
The contrasting material is masonry brick with blue for the river and beige representing the land “so we could integrate a blue glazed brick with a more matte clay brick,” he said.
As well, Canopy incorporated an Iroquois “longhouse” idea into the top floor community room.
“This is a place where people could have powwows, dances, any kind of ceremonial event or just very simply for people coming together,” the architect said.
There’s a circular aspect to represent the moon and lighting to create a “really beautiful light-dark silhouette to represent the sky.”
The firm’s name, Canopy, also references Native culture. Like a tree made of roots, trunk, branches and leaves all working together, the firm believes in a collaborative process with designers, builders and developers.
“Everybody around the table is working in a similar stream of consciousness,” Torres Carmona said.
The oversized A in the logo also may be “interpreted it as a teepee.”
