Foreground: Sou Fujimoto Architects, Architecture is Everywhere, Tokyo. Background: MOS Architects, House No. 11 (Corridor House), 2015, New York. Installation view of Chicago Architecture Biennial. Photo: Steve Hall.
The inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial presented a broad survey of diverse architecture practices and ideas from around the world. The exhibition included over 130 participants from more than 30 countries. In parallel with the exhibition, the curatorial team asked participants to have a conversation with someone influential or meaningful to their practice. The State of the Art of Architecture is a collection of over 85 of these exchanges, and is both an archive of the 2015 event and a springboard for further debate. The range of contributors speaks to the diversity of the participants' interests and the interdisciplinary nature of current discourse, and features not only architects, designers, curators and theorists, but also filmmakers, artists, fiction writers, and others. Taken together, the texts represent a unique set of voices from today's architecture community, making the book an invaluable reference for anyone concerned with the state of field today. The book also features photographic portfolios by Iwan Baan, Assaf Evron, Ramak Fazel and Amanda Williams.
The State of the Art of Architecture is edited by the inaugural biennial artistic directors Joseph Grima and Sarah Herda, with Andrea Bagnato and Irene Sunwoo.
The first public platform of its kind in North America, the Chicago Architecture Biennial presents emerging architectural ideas from around the world to advance global dialogue and public engagement with the ideas that shape the world we live in. The next Chicago Architecture Biennial will open in fall 2017.
With the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events for the City of Chicago, the Graham Foundation was a presenting partner of the inaugural 2015 Chicago Architectural Biennial.