lori lightfoot – DesignApplause

2021 chicago architecture biennial kicks off in a new format.

Sep 10, 2021

an architecture biennial unveils avant-garde ideas, materials, technologies and practices and serves as a forum for architects to make connections, collaborate with others and engage the public in issues and concerns in the field. the biennial also recognizes outstanding work in the industry.

the 2021 fourth edition of the chicago architecture bienniel kicks off 17 september organized in an entirely new format from previous years. all earlier editions were held at the chicago cultural center, an architectural masterpiece in itself, filling all three floors and greeting over 500,000 visitors in 2019.

because of the pandemic which affected long-established global venues, such as the venice architecture biennale, whose dates were put off twice — first, from may to august 2020, then to may 2021, chicago’s events will offer content within a neighborhood-centric format throughout the city.

the 2021 chicago event, titled the available city, builds on a chicago architecture professor’s long-term efforts to find creative uses for thousands of vacant city-owned lots. it will ask us to ponder how shared spaces, like community playgrounds, affect cities’ quality of life.

the biennial’s theme dovetails with mayor lori lightfoot’s $750 million “invest south/west” program to boost investment in struggling neighborhoods on the city’s south and west sides.

the mayor said in a news release, she was “thrilled” that the biennial “will be focused and grounded in our neighborhoods that can benefit from it the most.”

david brown, the 2021 chicago architecture biennial artistic director, is a professor at the university of illinois at chicago. brown participated in the inaugural 2015 biennial with an exhibition, also called the available city, which explored how 15,000 city-owned vacant lots could be transformed into usable public spaces rather than conventional reuses like urban farms.

above > david brown

since then, brown has worked with community-based organizations, connecting them with architects and designers to develop plans to turn individual lots or combinations of lots into small parks, plazas and buildings of various sizes.

this time around, the available city includes 15 site-specific architectural installations: located on public and private lots located in chicago’s neighborhoods of north lawndale, bronzeville, woodlawn, englewood, pilsen, collateral projects and the south loop. there are also two exhibition-based explorations located in an unused storefront space in bronzeville and at the graham foundation.

the host again is the graham foundation. and rather than starting from the ground up, the 2021 biennial will expand on brown’s work.

“that’s one of the reasons we’re really confident we can do this,” said sarah herda, the co-artistic director of the 2015 biennial and a member of the organization’s board. “we feel like it’s really a good moment” to reunite with brown and take his research forward, she said.

the biennial to date has featured models, drawings, installations and other work by more than 350 architects, designers and artists from more than 40 nations.

stressing that the 2021 biennial will seek to retain that international flavor, herda said the event might display projects from around the world that deal with issues like those brown has explored in his research.

out-of-town architects might communicate with chicago community groups via zoom or other online forums, she said.

the biennial’s first event will be an online conversation between brown and california landscape architect walter hood, winner of a macarthur foundation “genius” grant, who participated in the 2019 biennial.

as in previous years, the nonprofit organization that runs the biennial will present the event in cooperation with the chicago department of cultural affairs and special events.

the biennial becomes the second chicago architecture organization to shift from indoor activity to outdoor events and online platforms in response to the pandemic. the chicago architecture center presents it’s annual open house chicago, which normally gives participants access to the interiors of chicago buildings, is presenting outdoor and online tours.

[ 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);
counterspace (johannesburg + republic of london + united kingdom)
craig wilkins (detroit);
departamento del distrito (mexico city);
drawing architecture studio (beijing);
el cielo (mexico city);
elleza kelly (new haven + new york);
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);
jovanna jackson (chicago);
maite borjabad lopex-pastor (chicago + madrid);
manuel hertz architecture (basel);
matri-archi(tecture) (basel + cape town);
michelle joan wilkinson (washington dc);
open architecture + under the grid (chicago);
outpost office (columbus);
port (chicago + philadelphia);
projecthood (chicago);
rayna rezmilic (santiago);
riff studio (new york city);
sekou cooke studio (charlotte);
shau (bendung);
soil lab (copenhagen + dublin);
sonja henderson and alphonso nieves (chicago);
stefan gruber (pittsburg);
studioapt (ann arbor);
studio barnes with shawhin roudbari and mas context (miami);
studio ossidiana (rotterdam + venice);
the bittertang farm (chicago + bainbridge island);
the open workshop (san francisco + toronto);
urban american city (new york city).

contributor/tokyo atelier bow wow

contributor/niger mariam kamara/a>

contributor/chicago ania jaworska

contributor/detroit craig wilkins

the graham foundation is pleased to present the available city, part of the fourth edition of the chicago architecture biennial (cab). this edition marks a new approach to the biennial model, bridging the traditional exhibition format to a deeper engagement with the community to expand access and impact. offering opportunities to discover installations, exhibitions, and programs that explore transformative possibilities for vacant spaces in communities worldwide.

visit the [ chicago architecture biennial ] to explore more about the biennial, what is on view throughout the city, and upcoming programs and events. look for DesignApplause to spell out these events in weekly separate articles.

[ upcoming programming! ] #cab21 #chicagoarchitecturebiennial

this is a developing story…

from dark to light honoring covid-19 victims during national memorial service. like the concept.

Jan 19, 2021

the chicago skyline will go dark on 19 january, for a national covid-19 memorial service. as will many other cities throughout our country.

at 6 p.m. on tuesday mayor lori lightfoot is asking chicagoans to turn off lights, go outside and light a candle in honor of the 2 million people that have lost their lives to covid-19 worldwide. the event is happening across the united states.

navy pier and the group that organizes the skyline’s holiday-themed lights have already signed on to go dark.

the concept, after 10 minutes, everyone is supposed to turn their power and electronics back on. if you can, gradually relight your building and set your exterior color to orange. this process is meant to simulate the lighting of a candle as part of a nation-wide memorial. this symbolizes the movement from darkness to light.

president-elect joe biden and vice president-elect kamala harris will preside over a lighting ceremony for victims in washington d.c. at the lincoln memorial reflecting pool.

by design states will decide when to reopen despite trump’s desires. covid-19.

Mar 28, 2020

above > chicago mayor lori lightfoot and illinois governor j.b. pritzker team up. lightfoot warns residents to expect the statewide stay-at-home order to extend ‘deep into april’ / ap photo

illinois is one of many states taking control of keeping their citizens safe. constantly in national news, pritzker and lightfoot have turned out to be outspoken leaders in person and on twitter. president donald trump takes heed, as he does with new york governor andrew cuomo and califormia governor gavin newsom. along with lightfoot, another strong mayor is san francisco’s london breed.

above > 13 december 2018 / governor-elect j.b. pritzker, center, talks with president donald trump during a meeting with newly elected governors in the cabinet room of the white house. gubernatorial fashion in illinois gets a lot of attention. during his first six weeks in office, pritzker’s appointment calendar includes 70 “attire” recommendations for events as varied as bill signings, a state police officer’s funeral, a white house dinner, surveying flood damage, and cocktails with legislators at the illinois governor’s mansion / ap photo/evan vucci

president donald trump has the biggest megaphone, but it’s governors and local officials who will decide when to begin reopening their economies after shuttering them to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. the constitution largely gives states the authority to regulate their own affairs.

trump has set easter, 12 april, as a goal for reopening the u.s. economy, though he also has said he will be guided by his public health experts. unless americans continue to dramatically limit social interaction by staying home from work and isolating themselves, the number of infections will overwhelm the health care system, many health experts have warned.

some questions and answers about the legal authority for shutting and reopening the u.s. economy.

q > does the president have the authority to override state and local orders?

a > no. under our constitutional system, states have the power and responsibility for maintaining public order and safety. as we’ve seen since the outbreak began, decisions about limiting social interactions by ordering people to shelter in place, closing businesses and shutting schools are being made by governors and local officials. those same officials will make the call about when to ease up, no matter the vehemence of trump’s exhortation to have businesses “opened up and just raring to go by easter.” trump’s comments “are just advisory,” said john malcolm of the heritage foundation.

maryland governor larry hogan, has ordered all nonessential businesses and schools to close, and he said thursday on twitter that he does not see a quick end to the restrictions. “this battle is going to be much harder, take much longer, and be much worse than almost anyone comprehends. we have never faced anything like this ever before, and i continue to urge the people of our state to stay in place at home and stay safe,” hogan wrote.

q > but the president has set a 15-day period in which all americans are being urged to drastically scale back their public activities. doesn’t that amount to a national order?

a > no. the guidelines are voluntary, and they underscore the limits on trump’s powers. he can use daily briefings and his twitter account to try to shape public opinion, and he has not been reluctant to do so. “when donald trump selects a narrative and begins to advance it, especially through his twitter account, it has a remarkable effect on those who trust him. the more the president speaks against more robust forms of social distancing (such as shelter-in-place rules), the more noncompliance we are likely to see on the ground level from citizens sympathetic to the president,” robert chesney, a university of texas law professor wrote on the lawfare blog.

q > still, trump has invoked some federal laws to address the virus outbreak, hasn’t he?

a > yes, he has. the stafford act allows the expenditure of tens of billions of dollars in emergency assistance. the defense production act allows the president to direct private companies to produce goods or acquire raw materials. trump has yet to actually order companies to do anything, over the objection of some local officials who have a desperate need for ventilators, masks and other equipment. but trump can only assert powers that congress has specifically given him. “there are real limits on the president and the federal government when it comes to domestic affairs,” berkeley law professor john yoo said on a recent federalist society conference call. at the same time, the federal government has the power, under laws aimed at preventing the spread of communicable diseases, to quarantine people when they arrive in the united states and travel between states.

q > is it clear that state and local governments have authority to impose the severe restrictions we’ve seen?

a > lawsuits already are challenging state actions on religious grounds and as seizures of property for which the government must pay compensation. but for more than 100 years, the supreme court has upheld states’ robust use of their authority, even when it restricts people’s freedoms. in 1905, the court rejected a massachusetts pastor’s complaint that he should not be forced to get a smallpox vaccine or pay a fine, malcolm noted.

[ chicago tribune / by mark sherman / associated press ]

[ DesignApplause covid-19 response ] #governorapplause #mayorapplause #stayathome #covid19

floriduh finally gets social distancing message and closes beaches. covid-19 spotlights lack of leadership.

Mar 22, 2020

above > left public pinellas county clearwater beach 19 march / right 21 march

on 19 march the clearwater council votes to delay closing the clearwater beaches until tuesday 24 march. BUT, they had a change of heart and closed them yesterday, 21 march.

florida, the last u.s. state finally gets the message. amid national criticism as early as 15 march, on friday 20 march, governor ron desantis closes beaches, restaurant dining rooms and bars in the state, as well as concert houses and other entertainment venues in broward and palm beach counties which includes fort lauderdale.

that same day, the city of miami beach and miami-dade county took even larger emergency measures by closing all commercial lodging establishments. this means hotels, suite hotels, hotel units within apartment-hotels, hostels, dormitories, motels, and temporary vacation/short term rentals are ordered to shut down operations and tell guests they must leave. the order goes into effect at 11:59 p.m. on monday, march 23. and a curfew throughout the city from midnight to 5 a.m., goes into effect tuesday, 24 march at midnight. “our hotels have always been the lifeblood of our economy, so shuttering them is not something to do impulsively. but right now, as painful as it may be, the reality is we just cannot be a tourist destination,” said miami beach mayor dan gelber in a statement.

above > saturday 21 march

the second to last u.s. state was texas, where on 19 march, governor greg abbott signed an executive order limiting crowd gathering to 10, and to avoid eating or drinking at bars, restaurants, and food courts, or visiting gyms or massage parlors; provided, however, that the use of drive-thru, pickup, or delivery options is allowed and highly encouraged

we certainly can point fingers at the clueless and selfish during spring break as well as st. patrick’s day. but the real problem here is lack of leadership. we applaud the pro-active governors including new york’s andrew cuomo, illinois’s j.b. pritzker, and california’s gavin newsom and city mayors including chicago’s lori lightfoot, and miami-dade’s carlos a. gimenez.

so you ask why is this note such a nastygram? a simple answer is let’s compare governors. when illinois governor j.b. pritzker saw how chicago o’hare was handling international travelers, keeping them bunched up in a line for six hours, he went a little nuts and said that’s exactly what we don’t want to do. we need a social spacing mentality. the result, the airlines kept the passengers in the plane until it was ok to go through immigrations.

new york governor, andrew cuomo, is on cnn every morning soothing worries like mr. rogers. nothing political but common sense examples and suggestions on how to behave, protect seniors and kids, how to be responsible. it definitely impressed the president who we see every day but not sure he’s so soothing.

the spring break crowd. an annual rite of passage. there was no one in florida to protect them. the man at the top failed them. so yes, nastygram seems, just right.

[ DesignApplause covid-19 response ]

chicago residents ordered to ‘stay at home’ compels tony retailers to ‘board up showroom’. covid-19.

Mar 21, 2020

illinois governor j.b. pritzker issued a “stay-at-home” order for the entire state starting saturday, 21 march, as officials take drastic measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus. pritzker announced the directive at a 3 p.m. friday news conference along with chicago mayor lori lightfoot. for dior sometime before midnight the store began a facelift that was completed by 8 a.m. saturday.

we capture several showrooms within a three-block section on rush near oak street that were busy in the wee hours of saturday morning. on a normal day rush street has quite a bit of foot traffic. but nothing is normal right now. we’ll attempt to visit this area and michigan avenue in the upcoming days.

above > rush & walton :photo taken wednesday 30 october 11 a.m. // below > photo taken saturday 21 march 9 a.m. // boards were painted to match.

above > rush & oak photo taken friday 20 march 11 a.m. // below > photo taken saturday 21 march 9 a.m. // one block away a clever-sweet board up.

above > rush & oak photo taken wednesday 20 november 3 p.m. // below > photo taken saturday 21 march 9 a.m. // commencing board up.

above > rush & delaware photo taken friday 24 january 5 p.m. // below > photo taken saturday 21 march 9 a.m. // there’s no board up but all the cars have been removed, an empty showroom save three tesla roadsters.

above > rush & delaware photo taken monday 2 september 3 p.m.

[ DesignApplause covid-19 response ]