What constitutes the social context of architecture? What kind of stories can be told about how lived experiences across global communities, cities, territories, and ecologies resonate with architectural and space-making practices?
The 2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial explores the implications of architecture and the built environment as they relate to land, memory, rights, and civic participation—drawing buildings, planning, art, policy making, education, and activism into new conversations at global and civic scales.
This volume expands on the Biennial's curatorial focus through a range of essays, interviews, research materials, and visual dossiers. It is structured by a series of curatorial frames: (1) No Land Beyond reflects on landscapes of belonging and sovereignty that challenge narrow definitions of land as property and commodity; (2) Appearances and Erasures explores both shared and contested memories in consideration of monuments, memorials, and social histories; (3) Rights and Reclamations foregrounds aspects of rights, advocacy, and civic purpose in architectural and spatial practices; and (4) Common Ground addresses practices invested in producing and intervening in public space within and beyond the field of architecture.
Published by the Chicago Architecture Biennial in association with Columbia Books on Architecture and the City on the occasion of the 2019 Biennial. Edited by Yesomi Umolu, Sepake Angiama and Paulo Tavares.
ISBN: 9781941332542
Published: October 1, 2019
Publisher: Columbia Books on Architecture and the City
Dimensions: 7.75 × 10.5"
Materials: Paperback, 224 pages
Chicago Architecture Biennial
(Downtown)
"The Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB) is dedicated to creating an international forum on architecture and urbanism. It produces year-round programs and a biennial exposition of city-wide activations for a diverse audience of designers, educators, advocates, and students. CAB’s mission is to engage and inspire professional and public audiences, highlight the transformative power of architecture and envision a future for the field that is equitable and sustainable.
The signature program of the Chicago Architecture Biennial stands as North America’s largest international survey of contemporary architecture and takes place every two years at the Chicago Cultural Center and sites across the city. CAB has hosted three editions since its founding: ...and other such stories (2019); Make New History (2017); The State of the Art of Architecture (2015). The fourth edition, which will open in 2021, is titled The Available City. CAB programming throughout the year engages global audiences in conversations exploring critical ideas and questions facing the field, and beyond. "