Archinect - News

Chicago Architecture Biennial picks UIC School of Architecture director Florencia Rodriguez to lead CAB 6, 'Shift'

2024-11-01T15:17:00-04:00

The scope of next year’s Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB 6) will be responsive to changes within architecture and other salient issues united under the theme Shift: Architecture in Times of Radical Change and curated by UIC School of Architecture director Florencia Rodriguez.

The Biennial’s first female and Latin American Director, Rodriguez, will seek to chart a "new agenda for contemporary design" through the inclusion of installations, exhibitions, virtual initiatives, and other educational events taken from an international open call for what is now North America’s largest contemporary architecture exhibition.

She says the exhibition will be "an opportunity to gather global experiences, ideas, and projects that create an archive of contemporary architecture to inform decision making, education, debate, and collective thinking about the world we design."

UIC researchers predict nearly half of all American cities will experience 'massive' depopulation trends by 2100

2024-01-17T12:05:00-05:00

The implications of this massive decline in population will bring unprecedented challenges, possibly leading to disruptions in basic services like transit, clean water, electricity and internet access. Simultaneously, increasing population trends in resource-intensive suburban and periurban cities will probably take away access to much needed resources in depopulating areas, further exacerbating their challenges.

Almost half (43%) of the 30,000 cities surveyed recently by the University of Illinois Chicago are expected to lose population while another 40% — among the country’s larger metros such as New York City and Phoenix — will experience growth through the end of this century.

Lead author Sybil Derrible told Scientific American: “The takeaway is that we need to shift away from growth-based planning, which is going to require an enormous cultural shift in the planning and engineering of cities.” Declining birth rates, income tax burdens, rising home prices, and the effects of climate change are all pivotal factors in causing the demographic change.

Get Lectured: University of Illinois Chicago, Fall '23

2023-09-20T11:43:00-04:00

The new academic year is in full swing, and that means it’s time once again for our Get Lectured series. Today, we’ll take a look at the events and lectures happening this Fall at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Architecture.

The term began with a lecture from Adjunct Associate Professor Chana Haouzi on August 30. Sol Comacho’s lecture ‘Adapting - Design in a fully built metropolis’ will be on September 20. Joseph Altshuler and Zack Morrison of Could Be Design will have a discussion on September 22, followed by Phu Hoang’s ‘Indoor Urbanism’ lecture on September 28. The lectures continue with a presentation from Sam Jacob on October 12. An Open Archive Party hosted by Clinical Assistant Professor Jayne Kelley will take place as part of the We@UIC series on October 18, followed by the ‘At Home with the Collective: A Summit on Communal Housing’ from October 19-20.

Lecture poster courtesy of the UIC School of Architecture.

Another We@UIC event hosted by Visiting Professor Dia...

Get Lectured: University of Illinois Chicago, Spring '23

2023-03-01T18:20:00-05:00

Our Get Lectured series continues today with a look at what’s going on this semester at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) School of Architecture.

"This spring, the UIC School of Architecture continues building a new rhythm of in-person public programming," the institution shares.

Events began on February 16 with Paul Andersen’s lecture on the Boston-based studio French 2D. On March 6, writer and recent Harvard GSD graduate Jeffrey Nesbit’s presentation titled "NASA and the Enclosed World" with present a lecture with respondent Francesco Marullo. March 31 welcomes writer and critic Kate Wagner for the school's student choice lecture.

Events continue on April 20 with a presentation on the practice, SO – IL, with Florencia Rodriguez. A series of conferences is also supplementing the lectures and presentations, beginning with the two-day This is Not Contemporary symposium featuring Andersen, Kelly Bair, Beatrice Galilee, Mariana Ibañez, and other faculty and guests between Marc...

Architecture student Maya Matabwa named University of Illinois Chicago's Hartshorne and Plunkard Fellow

2023-02-22T14:42:00-05:00

Maya Matabwa, a first-year M.Arch student from the University of Illinois Chicago's College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts, is the recipient of the second Hartshorn and Plunkard Fellowship.

The program officially launched in 2022 by awarding its first fellow, M.Arch student Martina Smith, and is named and funded in honor of UIC alumni Ray Hartshorne and Jim Plunkard of Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture (HPA). To increase the opportunities for architecture students from traditionally underrepresented communities, the fellowship provides students with financial support for up to three years, academic and professional mentoring, and a paid internship at HPA.

Matabwa, who was born in Malawi, shared with UIC Today that receiving the award is "still sinking in."

Across academic institutions and firms, initiatives to create stronger pipelines, mentorship, and funding for students of marginalized communities have increased. "Being here as a young, Black, Malawian woman is an honor, ...

UIC has named Florencia Rodriguez as its new director

2022-06-16T12:26:00-04:00

The University of Illinois Chicago’s School of Architecture now officially has a new leader following Wednesday’s announcement that editor, writer, and academic Florencia Rodriguez has been named its next director.

Rodriguez will step into the role beginning in August. A statement from the school promised her tenure would encapsulate a desire to “promote the school’s pursuit to liberate and install new forms of collective association and material arrangement through all media of architectural design and research.”

A native Argentinian, Rodriguez comes to the position having lectured and taught theory courses at Boston Architectural College, Universidad del Litoral, and ITESM. Before moving to her post at Harvard GSD, she was a visiting professor at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella’s School of Architecture and Universidad de Palermo. She was a Loeb Fellow in 2013 and pursued her own degrees in architecture at the Universidad de Belgrano between 1993 and 2000.

Rodriguez is known for ...

Chicago Architecture Biennial announces 2021 theme, "The Available City" – David Brown appointed Artistic Director

2020-10-23T18:40:00-04:00

The Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB) announces David Brown as the 2021 Artistic Director for its fourth edition: The Available City. According to CAB the concept and title of the Biennial asks the public "to consider the impact collective space can have in cities today. Through a reinvented and responsive global platform, the Biennial will create opportunities for conversations about the intersection of architecture and design and such critical issues as health, sustainability, equity, and racial justice leading up to and throughout the run of the edition."

Brown's experience as a designer, researcher, and academic has led to his investigations revolving around "non-hierarchical and variable approaches to urban design." He is an associate professor of architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His work has been exhibited in the Venice Architecture Biennale (2012), the Chicago Cultural Center's Expo 72 (2013), and the Chicago Architecture Biennial (2015).

Vacant lot ...

How BIM and Augmented Reality aid the construction of new dorms at UIC

2019-09-11T18:11:00-04:00

As many architects know, throughout each phase of a project, finding ways to streamline production and efficiency is vital, as are improving cost efficiency and project delivery times. Several construction companies are combining their use of design platforms like BIM with augmented reality (AR) applications to help achieve these and other goals. The future of construction is changing as a result.

Chicago-based Pepper Construction, for example, combines BIM approaches and Microsoft HoloLens to help design and construct their projects. Most recently, the firm applied these techniques to the construction of a new housing and academic facility at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).

The construction team, in collaboration with UIC, American Campus Communities, and architects Solomon Cordwell Buenz, turned their job site into an integrative and interactive construction zone.

Harrison Hall Construction...

Get Lectured: UIC Barcelona, Foros '19

2019-01-30T15:50:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Spring 2019

It's time for Archinect's latest Get Lectured, an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back regularly to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

On February 11, the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture will kick off their #Foros2019 lecture series, which will focus on “the debate on the concept of identity in contemporary architecture, a field heavily influenced by the forces of globalization. Seven professionals and academics will discuss how globalizing dynamics put in question the territorial and local architecture discourse.”

The lecture series opens with a conference by UIC Barcelona anthropology professor Manuel Delgado. The following sessions will feature: Comparative Literature professor Daniele Gi...

Get Lectured: UIC Barcelona, Foros 2017

2017-02-02T14:22:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter & Spring 2017

Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session for Winter and Spring 2017. Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss. Mark those calendars!

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

On February 6, the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture will launch its 2017 Foros Lecture Series, “The Agency of Architecture”, as part of their 20th anniversary celebration. Directed by dpr-barcelona co-founder Ethel Baraona, the series seeks “to give voice to practices that constantly strive to enrich, alter or call into question that which we believe the agency of architecture should be in our own environment”.

Feb 6
Ines Weizman / Professor of Architectural Theory + Director of the Institute ...

Get Lectured: UIC Barcelona, Foros 2016

2016-01-18T14:49:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter/Spring 2016

Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session. Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Our next featured poster comes from the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture with their 2016 Foros lecture series: "Origin." Returning for its 11th cycle, the 2016 cycle "invites reflection on the origins of ideas, something that can be invisible and hard to describe but often capable of changing circumstances."

Lectures take place at 7:00 p.m. on campus.

Feb 1
Christoph Hölscher & Victor Schinazi / Directors of Cognitive Science - ETH Zurich

Feb 15
Luis Martínez Santa-María

Feb 29
Arquitectura-G

March 14
Harquitectes

April 18
Baukuh

April 25
Pascal Flamme...

Get Lectured: University of Illinois at Chicago, 2015-2016

2015-09-17T15:18:00-04:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2015

Archinect's Get Lectured is ready for another school year. Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

For our next featured poster, the University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Architecture gets chatty in their 2015-2016 lecture events poster.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Did you catch that? Here's a breakdown of the events (upcoming only), just in case:

Sept 30
Tatiana Bilbao

Oct 6
Patrik Schumacher

Oct 22
Robert Somol

Oct 26
Sarah Blankenbaker, Douglas A. Garofalo Fellow

Nov 12
What's in a List? symposium

Nov 13
Imaginary Worlds symposium

Dec 11
Cropped exhibition

SPRING 2016

Jan 25
Adam Kotsko

Feb 3
Portfolio Day

Dates TBA
Michael Meredith and Hilary Sample
Greenwald Visiting Critics

M...

"Visionary Cities Project" applies urbanist archetypes to Damien Hirst's blank development site

2015-04-10T14:58:00-04:00

Students in UIC’s “Visionary Cities Project” have pitted a selection of urbanist theories against one another, to see how historical visions of urbanism compare on a common ground. The studio, run by Alexander Eisenschmidt at the University of Illinois at Chicago, takes urbanist models and schemes from the likes of Piranesis, Le Corbusier, and Hilberseimer, and reinterprets them on the blank slate of an upcoming development for the city of Ilfracombe, on the UK’s southern coast. In reality, Ilfracombe’s new district is being developed by the artist Damien Hirst, with a plan for suburban subdivisions. But the UIC studio is interpreting the expansion as a “cultural instigator”; producing a collection of drawings that Eisenschmidt calls “HiDef Cities of Architectural Urbanism.”

Eisenschmidt provided the following "Historical Context" for the studio:

Architectural urbanism has a long history, which only by the mid-20th century was questioned as the urbanisms of modernism were unable to re...