The Chicago Architecture Biennial announced the first group of contributors to the 2019 edition and its publication. Titled …and other such stories, the biennial will form an expansive and multi-faceted exploration of the field of architecture and the built environment globally. The first 51 contributors — spanning the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia — form an initial, representative group, and include an early selection of ambitious commissioned projects. These projects will address key questions about the implications of architecture as it relates to land, memory, rights, and civic participation, and are particularly inspired by the history and conditions of the City of Chicago.
“Our initial list of contributors comprises practices and projects that resonate deeply with our four curatorial focus areas” noted Artistic Director Yesomi Umolu “We are especially proud to commission a series of new projects that address some of the most pressing issues of our time while advancing new forms of thinking and practice across the field of architecture and beyond.”
Many from the initial list — approximately half of the projected contributor list — will produce newly commissioned projects in conversation with the Biennial’s curatorial team, which comprises Artistic Director Yesomi Umolu, a contemporary art curator, and co-curators Sepake Angiama, a curator whose work centers on education, and Paulo Tavares, a Brazil-based architect and academic. Early highlight commissions include:
● Reflections on landscapes of belonging and sovereignty that challenge existing, narrow
definitions of land as property and commodity from Wolff Architects (Capetown, South
Africa), Territorial Agency—John Palmesino and Ann-Sofi Rönnskog (London, UK) and Theaster Gates
(Chicago, IL). Projects that think through alternative designs and relationships between nature,
society, and the built environment by Carolina Caycedo (Los Angeles, CA) and Joar Nango
(Sápmi/Northern Norway);
● Explorations of sites of memory — and the politics of remembering and/or forgetting in
contested spaces — by contributors CAMP (Mumbai, India), Center for Spatial Research (New York,
NY), MASS Design Group (Boston, MA/Poughkeepsie, NY/Kigali, Rwanda),
Tanya Lukin Linklater and Tiffany Shaw-Collinge (Ontario, Canada and Alberta, Canada),
and Wendelien van Oldenborgh (Rotterdam, Netherlands);
● Interpretations of space — urban, territorial, environmental — as a site of advocacy
and civic participation with works by DAAR (Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti) (Beit Sahour,
Palestine), FICA– Fundo Imobiliário Comunitário para Aluguel (São Paulo, Brazil), Forensic
Architecture and Invisible Institute (London, UK and Chicago, IL), Maria Gaspar (Chicago,
IL), Ola Hassanain (Khartoum, Sudan), and RMA Architects (Mumbai, India and Boston, MA);
● Contributors who will explore methodologies for intervening in public space — both within and
beyond the field of architecture, including Adrian Blackwell (Toronto, Canada),
ConstructLab (Berlin, Germany) and Keleketla! Library (Johannesburg, South Africa).
Over the coming months, the Biennial will announce the full list of contributors and key programming for this year’s edition of the Biennial.
An eponymous catalogue will also be published in conjunction with the Biennial, extending the edition’s core questions through essays by Dr. Denise Ferreira da Silva (Associate Professor and Director of The Social Justice Institute at the University of British Columbia), Eduardo O. Kohn (Associate Professor of Anthropology at McGill University), Lesley Lokko (Director and Professor, Graduate School of Architecture, University of Johannesburg) and Pelin Tan (Sociologist and Art Historian), alongside interviews and visual dossiers. This will be co-published with Columbia University Press as part of their Columbia Books on Architecture and the City series.
“This talented group of contributors represent a strong cross section of architects, artists, collectives and researchers who add to the cultural fabric of their communities around the world, and right here in Chicago,” noted Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “With contributions from 19 countries and counting, the third Chicago Architecture Biennial will again reinforce Chicago’s reputation as the vanguard of architectural, art, and design innovation on the national and international stage.”
“The participants who will explore the significant issues raised by our curators will both challenge and entertain the Biennial’s audiences: architecture professionals, Chicagoans, including those in our school program, and visitors to our city,” stated Biennial Board Chairman Jack Guthman.
“We are thrilled to be partner with such a diverse and insightful group of contributors to tell important stories about who we are, and who we may become,” noted Biennial Executive Director Todd Palmer. “We are looking forward to announcing the full list of contributors to the main exhibition — as well as participants in the broader, citywide program — in the coming months, and to exploring these projects and perspectives further with our visitors.”
The Chicago Architecture Biennial is the largest architecture and design exhibition in North America. The Biennial, which is free and open to the public, will open the central exhibition in the Chicago Cultural Center on September 19, 2019 and run through January 5, 2020. Press and professional previews will take place September 17–18, 2019. The opening of the 2019 edition will again align with EXPO CHICAGO, the International Exposition of Contemporary and Modern Art. Founding sponsor BP will renew its support in 2019 as a lead sponsor alongside the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, providing a strong foundation for the event’s return.
2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial Highlight Contributors:
Exhibition Contributors
Adrian Blackwell
Born in Toronto, Canada
Lives in Toronto, Canada
Akinbode Akinbiyi
Born in Oxford, England – UK
Lives in Berlin, Germany
Alejandra Celedon & Nicolas Stutzin
Celedon born in Edmonton, Canada
Stutzin born in Santiago, Chile
Both live in Santiago, Chile
Architects for Social Housing (ASH)
Founded in London, England – UK
Avijit Mukul Kishore & Rohan Shivkumar
Kishore born in Lucknow, India
Shivkumar born in Hyderabad, India
Both live in Mumbai, India
Black Quantum Futurism
Founded in Philadelphia, USA
Borderless Studio
Founded in Chicago, USA
CAMP
Founded in Mumbai, India
Carolina Caycedo
Born in London, England – UK
Lives in Los Angeles, USA
Center for Spatial Research
Founded in New York, USA
Clemens von Wedemeyer
Born in Göttingen, Germany
Lives in Berlin, Germany
Cohabitation Strategies & Urban Front
Founded in New York, USA
ConstructLab
Founded in Berlin, Germany
DAAR (Sandi Hilal & Alessandro Petti)
Founded in Beit Sahour, Palestine
Detroit Planning Department
Founded in Detroit, USA
Do Ho Suh
Born in Seoul, South Korea
Lives in London, England – UK
FICA–Fundo Imobiliário Comunitário para Aluguel
Founded in São Paulo, Brazil
Forensic Architecture & Invisible Institute
Founded in London, England – UK and Chicago, USA
Jimmy Robert
Born in Guadeloupe – France
Lives in Berlin, Germany
Joar Nango
Born in Áltá/AltaÁltá, Sápmi/Northern Norway
Lives in Romssa /Tromsø, Norway
Keleketla! Library
Founded in Johannesburg, South Africa
Maria Gaspar
Born in Chicago, USA
Lives in Chicago, USA
MASS Design Group
Founded in Boston and Poughkeepsie, USA; Kigali, Rwanda
Ola Hassanain
Born in Khartoum, Sudan
Lives in Khartoum, Sudan and Utrecht, Netherlands
RMA Architects
Founded in Mumbai, India; Boston, USA
Sammy Baloji & Filip de Boeck
Baloji born in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo
de Boeck born in in Antwerp, Belgium
Both live in Brussels, Belgium and Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Settler Colonial City Project
Founded in Ann Arbor USA and Guayaquil, Ecuador
Somatic Collaborative (Felipe Correa & Devin Dobrowolski)
Founded in New York, USA
studioBASAR
Founded in Bucharest, Romania
Sweet Water Foundation
Founded in Chicago, USA
Tania Bruguera & Association of Arte Útil
Bruguera born Havana, Cuba
Bruguera lives in New York, USA
Association of Arte Útil founded in Havana, Cuba
Tanya Lukin Linklater & Tiffany Shaw-Collinge
Linklater born in Alaska, USA; Shaw-Collinge born in Alberta, Canada
Linklater lives in Ontario, Canada; Shaw-Collinge lives in Alberta, Canada
Territorial Agency—John Palmesino & Ann-Sofi Rönnskog
Founded in London, England – UK
The Funambulist
Founded in Paris, France
Theaster Gates
Born in Chicago, USA
Lives in Chicago, USA
Usina – CTAH
Founded in São Paulo, Brazil
Vincent Meessen
Born in Baltimore, USA
Lives in Brussels, Belgium
Wendelien van Oldenborgh
Born in Rotterdam, Netherlands
Lives in Berlin, Germany
Wolff Architects
Founded in Cape Town, South Africa
Catalogue Contributors
Aviwe Mandyanda (BlackStudio)
Born in Mdantsane, a township in East London, South Africa
Lives in Johannesburg, South Africa
Carmen Silva
Born in Santo Estêvão, Bahia, Brazil
Lives in São Paulo, Brazil
cheyanne turions
Born in High Prairie, Canada
Lives in Vancouver, Canada
Columbia Books on Architecture and the City
Founded in New York, USA
Dr. Denise Ferreira da Silva
Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Lives in Vancouver, Canada
ELLA
Founded in Los Angeles, USA
Emmanuel Pratt
Born in Virginia, USA
Lives in Chicago, USA
Eduardo O. Kohn
Lives in Montreal, Canada
Inam Kula
Born in Gugulethu, a township in Cape Town, South Africa
Lives in Cape Town, South Africa
Lesley Lokko
Born in Dundee, Scotland – UK
Lives in Johannesburg, South Africa
Pelin Tan
Born in Hilden, Germany
Lives in Mardin, Turkey
Vincent Tao
Born in Scarborough, Canada
Lives in Vancouver, Canada