Is Architecture Too Interdisciplinary? Or, Why Architects Need to Start Talking About Architecture

This article was originally published by Common Edge as "What We Talk About When We Don’t Talk About Buildings."

Second Chicago Architecture Biennial Closes with Over 500,000 Attendees

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has announced the figures for the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial, which closed its four month run on Sunday, January 7th.

2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial Approaches Closing Date

The 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial is drawing to a close next week after almost 4 months of exhibitions, discussions, tours, film screenings, and other events. The second edition of the event, which opened on September 16th and is based upon the theme of "Make New History," will round out with two final events before the exhibition finally closes on Sunday, January 7th. Read on for more about the remaining events.

At the Chicago Architecture Biennial, Chinese Firms Look to Tradition to Write a New Chapter in Their Nation's Architectural History

This article was originally published on the blog of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, the largest platform for contemporary architecture in North America. The 2017 Biennial, entitled Make New History, will be free and open to the public between September 16, 2017 and January 6, 2018.

Choreographed Performance at Farnsworth House Explores “Queer Space” in the Work of Mies van der Rohe

This article was originally published on the blog of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, the largest platform for contemporary architecture in North America. The 2017 Biennial, entitled Make New History, will be free and open to the public between September 16, 2017 and January 6, 2018.

The Expansive and Inclusive Architectural Galaxy of Archive of Affinities

This article was originally published on the blog of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, the largest platform for contemporary architecture in North America. The 2017 Biennial, entitled Make New History, will be free and open to the public between September 16, 2017 and January 6, 2018.

Burnham Prize 2017 Winners Announced for 'Under the Dome' Competition

The Burnham Prize 2017 is a competition hosted by the Chicago Architectural Club (CAC), this year the title was ‘Under the Dome,' requiring participants to rethinking the radial form that has been a part of architecture for centuries.

How Chicago’s Tribune Tower Competition Changed Architecture Forever

This article was originally published on the blog of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, the largest platform for contemporary architecture in North America. The 2017 Biennial, entitled Make New History, will be free and open to the public between September 16, 2017 and January 6, 2018.

2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial's "Labyrinth" Demonstrates Novel Approaches to Design and Cities

On the ground floor of the Chicago Cultural Center, Labyrinth—a cluster of installations and exhibitions occupying a warren of rooms as part the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial—serves as the visitor's introduction to participants' responses to the theme, Make New History. In this short film, architects including Jürgen Mayer H., Freek Persyn (51N4E) and Philip F. Huan (Archi-Union) present their projects and reflect on their work, process, and involvement in North America's largest architectural event.

How Architects in Chicago Are Making New History

"We are at a moment of great cultural transition," Jorge Otero-Pailos argues. "The kinds of objects that we look to to provide some sort of continuity in that transformation is often times architecture, [...] one of the most stable objects in culture." This short film, in which an number of participants of the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial reflect on their work and those of others, tackles the theme conceived by artistic directors Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee: Make New History.

In "Horizontal City," 24 Architects Reconsider Architectural Interiors at 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial

Horizontal City is one of two collective exhibitions (the other being Vertical City) at the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial. 24 architects were tasked by artistic directors Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee to "reconsider the status of the architectural interior" by referencing a photograph of a canonical interior from any time period.

Social Agenda vs Social Media: Reviewing the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial

While architecture exhibitions have a tendency to be drab affairs with poorly displayed poster boards and reams of intellectualized text spouting pseudo-complex ideas, the Chicago Architecture Biennial stands out for its undeniable sense of playfulness. From its central HQ to the fringe performance events, this exhibition is bright, fun and Instagram-ready.

15 Must-See Installations at the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial

With the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial in full swing and open to the public until January 7, 2017, we've scoured the galleries, halls and corridors of the Chicago Cultural Center to bring you our favorite fifteen installations. Documented through the lens of Laurian Ghinitoiu and assembled by our Editorial Team on location, this selection intends to shed light on the breadth, scope and preoccupations of Make New History – the largest architecture event in North America.

Chicago Works: Amanda Williams at The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago presents the first-ever museum exhibition of breakout Chicago artist Amanda Williams, featuring a new addition to her highly acclaimed project, Color(ed) Theory, which debuted at the first Chicago Architecture Biennial. The bright, monochromatic houses painted as part of Color(ed) Theory bring attention to the overwhelming number of vacancies on Chicago’s South Side, reflecting Williams’ perspective that architecture serves as a microcosm for larger social issues. Together with new works such as A Dream or Substance, a Beamer, a Necklace or Freedom? -- where Williams invited Englewood-based collaborators to gild a room in imitation gold leaf in the same proportion of a Chicago lot, and then sealed off the room with just a small gap for viewing the gleaming interior -- Williams’ solo debut creates an experience that comments on race, class, and urban space. Chicago Works: Amanda Williams is organized by MCA Curatorial Assistant Grace Deveney and is on view from July 18 to December 31, 2017.

"Strong Relationships Between Engineers and Architects": SOM at the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial

An engineer should design a structure that an architect would be ashamed to cover up.

SOM Exhibits 30 Structural Skeleton Models Showing Evolution of Tall Building Design

When it comes to tall building design, it’s often the structural system where the most groundbreaking innovations are made. Premiering this week in partnership with the Chicago Architecture Biennial is a new exhibition highlighting the innovative structural systems of an architecture firm that has completed their fair share of tall buildings: SOM.

Curators Johnston Marklee Introduce the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial, "Make New History"

As the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial prepares to open its doors, curators Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee (Johnston Marklee) introduce Make New History – the theme of the second edition of North America's largest architecture and design exhibition.

In "Vertical City," 16 Contemporary Architects Reinterpret the Tribune Tower at 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial

In a large-scale, central installation at the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial, the likes of 6a architects, Barozzi Veiga, Kéré Architecture, MOS, OFFICE KGDVS, and Sergison Bates—among others—have designed and constructed sixteen five meter-tall contemporary iterations of the renowned 1922 Chicago Tribune Tower design contest.