Civic Projects Architecture is a Chicago-based practice advancing a participatory model of design that expands architecture’s role in civic and cultural life.

Founded in 2014 by Monica Chadha, AIA, LEED AP, and operating out of the South Side, Civic Projects creates projects that serve as catalysts within their communities, approaching each commission as an opportunity to shape space, strengthen identity, and build long-term community value. Working across architecture, planning, stakeholder engagement, and project strategy, Civic Projects develops work shaped by the distinct histories and aspirations of the people and organizations it serves.

The firm’s work is defined by an embedded process of community engagement that continues from project inception through design development and implementation. Rather than treating outreach as a preliminary phase, Civic Projects incorporates stakeholder participation as a through line informing program, atmosphere, and physical form.

This approach is reflected in projects including the Obama Presidential Center Museum, developed in collaboration with Ralph Appelbaum Associates (2026); Yollocalli Arts Reach, the youth initiative of the National Museum of Mexican Art (2025); the National Public Housing Museum Corner Store Coop (2025); Sunshine Community Center in Washington Park (projected 2027); Steep Theatre’s new home in Edgewater (2026); Lvl Up Community Coffee in Bronzeville (2025); GCE Lab School (2022), Definition Theater, Woodlawn (projected 2028) and the Clotilda Memorial (Alabama, 2027).

Civic Projects has experience across cultural institutions, museums, community centers, youth and educational spaces, adaptive reuse projects, and neighborhood-oriented commercial environments. The practice is certified as a Minority-Owned and Women-Owned Business. Chadha has been recognized as an Emerging Leader by the Design Futures Council and was included in the inaugural Eames Foundation Curious 100 in 2025. She serves on the Board of Trustees of the Graham Foundation and has been an Adjunct Professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology.