Early one morning I stood on what might be the last undeveloped piece of land in the Loop’s radius. The site of the forthcoming DuSable Park is, currently, a soil mound bursting with prairie life located where the Chicago River punctures Lake Michigan’s mouth. This, says architect Ryan Gann, who is working with Ross Barney […]
Author Archives: Anjulie Rao
Biennial as experimentation
In 2017, a barge drifted along the Chicago River. It wasn’t carrying the usual Ozinga concrete or gravel; instead it floated a museum. Produced by the Floating Museum, an interdisciplinary collective comprised of architect Andrew Schachman, artists Faheem Majeed and Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford, and poet avery r. young, the museum barge showcased artwork from dozens of […]
Rethinking equity in the built environment
The house next door to mine was torn down. My neighbors don’t quite remember the year, but the resident local historian, Maurice, who has lived on the block since the late 60s, was shipped off to Vietnam and, upon his return in 1972, the house had vanished. The product of “slum clearance” on Chicago’s west […]
Designing more welcoming streets? Bring in the teens
A partnership between an architecture firm and a west-side nonprofit brings teen designers’ visions to the forefront of community development.
Power, violence, and the Chicago Architecture Biennial
This year may end the unstoppable homage to dead white men and narratives that neglect how architecture has victimized communities of color.
Eviction is more than just a bureaucratic process
An architecture critic and a housing reporter visit a new exhibition in Milwaukee.
The Beach is the interactive exhibit Navy Pier deserves
Neither art nor architecture, this ball pit is completely Instagram ready.
‘Between States’ is for the community but forgets the community
A new exhibit at the Chicago Architecture Foundation has lofty ambitions but could use some gravity.
Where does the Chicago Architecture Biennial go next?
The current edition of the festival poses two possible directions its organizers can take.