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Here are the 60 designers exhibiting at the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial

Here are the 60 designers exhibiting at the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial

More than 60 design firms across four continents will contribute to a new festival of design that aims to become the largest international survey of contemporary architecture in North America, co-artistic directors Joseph Grima and Sarah Herda announced Tuesday.

The Chicago Architecture Biennial kicks off October 3 and lasts through the year, comprising one-time events and ongoing exhibitions across the city. The festival will be based at the Chicago Cultural Center, but activities will extend to sites including Millennium Park, Michigan Avenue’s City Gallery, 72 East Randolph Street, and the Theaster Gates–rehabbed Stony Island Arts Bank.

Chicago officials announced the biennial in June. Until now details were scant on the festival, which takes after the Venice biennale. Questions remain, however, on the content of the participating designers‘ expected contributions, and on the city’s ability to fund what has been advertised as a major tourist draw with global cultural significance.

Oil giant BP agreed to donate $2.5 million for the inaugural show—a contribution that was reportedly solicited personally by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. And Tuesday Biennial organizers announced a $1 million gift from SC Johnson. But the city’s still looking to raise at least half a million dollars more. “The Biennial team affirms with confidence that the fundraising goal will be met,” said a spokeswoman.

The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) and the Graham Foundation will present the show, with programming in partnership with the American Institute of Architects and the Chicago Architecture Foundation.

Iwan Baan will exhibit a photo series about Chicago, the organizers announced in November, and the show will pay homage to Chicago architect Stanley Tigerman, who in 1977 helped mount a seminal conference that gave today’s biennial its name: The State of the Art of Architecture.

Here’s the full list of participating firms, as of April 14:

Al Borde (Quito, Ecuador)
allzone / Rachaporn Choochuey (Bangok, Thailand)
Andreas Angelidakis (Athens, Greece)
Andrés Jaque / Office for Political Innovation (Madrid, Spain; New York, USA)
Aranda\Lasch (Tuscon, USA; New York, USA)
Assemble (London, UK)
Atelier Bow-Wow (Tokyo, Japan)
Iwan Baan (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Erin Besler / Besler & Sons (Los Angeles, USA)
Tatiana Bilbao S.C. (Mexico City, Mexico)
Bjarke Ingels Group / BIG (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Santiago Borja (Mexico City, Mexico)
Carlos Bunga (Barcelona, Spain)
Bureau Spectacular / Jimenez Lai (Los Angeles, USA)
Csutoras & Liando (Jakarta, Indonesia; London, UK)
Design With Company (Chicago, USA)
El Equipo de Mazzanti / Giancarlo Mazzanti (Bogota, Colombia)
Frida Escobedo (Mexico City, Mexico)
Didier Faustino (Paris, France)
Moon Hoon (Seoul, Korea)
Indie Architecture + Paul Preissner Architects (Denver/Chicago, USA)
John Ronan Architects (Chicago, USA)
Johnston Marklee (Los Angeles, USA)
junya.ishigami+associates (Tokyo, Japan)
Kéré Architecture / Francis Kéré (Gando, Burkina Faso; Berlin, Germany)
Kuehn Malvezzi (Berlin, Germany)
Anne Lacaton & Jean-Philippe Vassal and Frederic Druot (Paris, France)
Yasmeen Lari / Heritage Foundation Pakistan (Lahore, Pakistan)
Lateral Office (Toronto, Canada)
LIST / Ido Avissar (Paris, France)
MAIO (Barcelona, Spain)
Marshall Brown Projects (Chicago, USA)
Mass Studies / Minsuk Cho (Seoul, Korea)
MOS / Michael Meredith and Hilary Sample (New York, USA)
New-Territories / Francois Roche & Camille Lacadee (Paris, France/Bangkok, Thailand)
NLÉ / Kunlé Adeyemi (Lagos, Nigeria; Rotterdam, Netherlands)
Norman Kelley (Chicago, USA)
OFFICE / Kersten Geers David Van Severen (Brussels, Belgium)
Onishimaki + Hyakuda Architects (Tokyo, Japan)
OPEN Architecture/ Li Hu & Huang Wenjing (Beijing, China)
Lluís Ortega / Sio2arch (Chicago, USA; Barcelona, Spain)
otherothers / David Neustein & Grace Mortlock (Sydney, Australia)
Pedro&Juana (Mexico City, Mexico)
Pezo von Ellrichshaussen (Concepcion, Chile)
Plan:b Arquitectos / Felipe Mesa & Federico Mesa (Medellin, Colombia)
PORT (Chicago, USA)
Productora (Mexico City, Mexico)
RAAAF [Rietveld Architecture-Art-Affordances] (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Bryony Roberts (Los Angeles, USA; Oslo, Norway)
RUA Arquitetos (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Rural Urban Framework (Hong Kong)
SO-IL (New York, USA)
Sou Fujimoto Architects (Tokyo, Japan)
studio Albori (Milan, Italy)
Studio [D]Tale (Harare, Zimbabwe; Capetown, South Africa; London, UK)
Studio Gang / Jeanne Gang (Chicago, USA)
TOMA (Santiago, Chile)
UrbanLab / Sarah Dunn and Martin Felson (Chicago, USA)
VTN / Vo Trong Nghia Architects (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
WAI Architecture Think Tank (Beijing, China)
Weathers / Sean Lally (Chicago, USA)
Amanda Williams (Chicago, USA)
WORKac+ Ant Farm / Amale Andraos & Dan Wood, Chip Lord & Curtis Schreier (New York, USA)

A full list of the festival’s sponsors and partners is available on chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org.

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