The Available City
September 17, 2021
The Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB) is pleased to announce the contributors selected by Artistic Director David Brown for the 2021 edition, The Available City. The initial list of 29 contributors brings design perspectives from cities around the world such as Cape Town, Caracas, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dublin, Paris, Basel, and Tokyo. These global design innovators are paired with Chicago community groups to explore forms of shared, collective space and inspire new and imaginative uses of vacant spaces in the city. The installations, activations, exhibits, projects, and programs will be shared with the public in neighborhoods across Chicago and on digital platforms when the Biennial opens on September 17, 2021.
Over the coming months, the Biennial will announce key partnerships and collaborations between the contributors and community organizations for this year’s edition of the Biennial.
For the 2021 edition, installation, projects, activations, and programs will be presented at sites located throughout Chicago including an initial list of neighborhoods such as North Lawndale, Woodlawn, Bronzeville, Pilsen, South Loop, the Loop, and Edgewater. The teams will collaborate with Chicago community groups in a hands-on, community-driven design process that will activate latent spaces including community gardens, decommissioned schools, and storefronts in addition to vacant lots.
Through a new, year-round programming model, CAB seeks to engage audiences throughout the process of project development leading up to the opening of the 2021 edition and beyond. Over the coming months, CAB will continue to announce details about the collaborations and initiatives being developed by local and global architects, artists, and designers. A schedule of in-person and virtual programming for the 2021 edition—youth workshops, conversations, and community events—will be announced soon.
2021 contributors
Ana Miljački (Critical Broadcasting Lab at MIT), Boston
Ania Jaworska, Chicago
Atelier Bow-Wow, Tokyo
Borderless Studio, Chicago
Central Park Theater Restoration Committee, Chicago
Christophe Hutin Architecture, Bordeaux
Departamento del Distrito, Mexico City
Drawing Architecture Studio, Beijing
El Cielo, Mexico City
Englewood Nature Trail, Chicago
Enlace Arquitectura + Ciudad Laboratorio, Caracas
fala, Porto
Gensler (Stone Soup Group), Los Angeles/Chicago
Hood Design Studio, Oakland
In care of Black women, Chicago
Jill Desimini, Cambridge
Matri-Archi(tecture), Basel/Cape Town
Open Architecture Chicago + Under the Grid, Chicago
Outpost Office, Columbus
Port, Chicago/Philadelphia
ProjectHOOD, Chicago
Riff Studio, New York
Soil Lab, Copenhagen/Dublin
studioAPT, Ann Arbor
Studio Barnes with Shawhin Roudbari and MAS Context, Miami
Studio Ossidiana, Rotterdam/Venice
The Bittertang Farm, Clearing, Chicago/Island Center, Bainbridge Island
THE OPEN WORKSHOP, San Francisco/Toronto
Urban American City, New York
Over the course of the first three editions, CAB has supported projects created by more than 350 architects, designers, and artists from over 40 countries considering critical topics through the lens of architecture and design. As a platform designed to highlight and explore innovation in the field, CAB is poised to present a global event that responds to changes in the way we gather, engage, and learn. The fourth edition will imagine new and exciting possibilities for activating spaces throughout the city, expanding access to architecture and design, and engaging new voices.
For more information, please visit our website.
