The Chicago Architecture Biennial is returning this September under the 2021 edition banner, The Available City. This morning, Artistic Director David Brown unveiled an initial list of 29 contributors from Chicago and around the world to collaborate with local community groups to examine forms of shared, collective space and imagine new and innovative uses of vacant spaces in the city.

"The Available City results from a long interest in the landscape of vacant spaces that are so prevalent in many cities across the US, and beyond," Brown elaborated on the selection. "The 2021 edition asks us to imagine the transformative possibilities of collective spaces within those vacant spaces through a process of exchange and collaboration between designers and local residents."

The Available City results from a long interest in the landscape of vacant spaces that are so prevalent in many cities across the US, and beyond. — David Brown

The list of 2021 CAB contributors includes:

• 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
• Departamento del Distrito, Mexico City
• Drawing Architecture Studio, Beijing
• El Cielo, Mexico City
• 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
• Matri-Archi(tecture), Basel + Cape Town
• Open Architecture Chicago + Under the Grid, Chicago
• Outpost Office, Columbus Port, Chicago + Philadelphia
• ProjectHOOD, Chicago
• Riff Studio, New York City
• Soil Lab, Copenhagen + Dublin
• studioAPT, Ann Arbor
• Studio Barnes with Shawhin Roudbari and MAS Context, Miami
• Studio Ossidiana, Rotterdam + Venice
• The Bittertang Farm, Clearing, Chicago + Island Center, Bainbridge Island
• THE OPEN WORKSHOP, San Francisco + Toronto
• Urban American City, New York City

Key partnerships and creative pairings between the contributors and community organizations will be announced over the coming months.

Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot sounded hopeful about the initiative, saying: "The challenges we've faced over the course of the past year have taught us two things — one, we need to come up with holistic solutions to the problems our city faces and two, that process begins with harnessing the creativity, talent and resilience of our communities," adding, "The 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial contributors are a diverse and creative group who will do just that by bringing new approaches from other global cities and working alongside our residents on our historic South and West Sides to create thriving collective spaces for our communities to enjoy."

While a detailed schedule of in-person and virtual programming for the 2021 edition has yet to be released, the opening date for the Biennial is set for September 17.