Faculty, Alumni Selected to Exhibit in Chicago Architecture Biennial

The inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial, North America’s largest survey of contemporary architecture, opened to the public in early October with an ambitious collection of gallery installations, performances, talks and tours scattered across the city. The event featured an impressive list of international studios selected by co-artistic directors Joseph Grima and Sarah Herda. SCI-Arc participants included design faculty Marcelo Spina of P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S, whose project Oblicuo was designed in collaboration with design faculty Casey Rehm, and computational design faculty Satoru Sugihara of ATLV, whose biennial project was proposed in collaboration with SCI-Arc alumna Erin Besler (M.Arch '12) of Belser + Sons.

The inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial takes its title, The State of the Art of Architecture, from a 1977 conference organized by architect Stanley Tigerman, which invited leading American designers to Chicago to discuss the current state of the field. The Biennial’s goal was to expand the spirit and scope of this event by inviting both emerging and established practices from across the world to Chicago to demonstrate how groundbreaking advances in architectural design are tackling the most pressing issues of today. With an incredible breadth of design approaches, research interests, and cultural perspectives, the Biennial offers a global stage for debate and the exchange of ideas, while at the same time enriching Chicago’s unique role in history as a crucible of architectural innovation.