Chicago Architecture Biennial

The Chicago Architecture Biennial is held at the Chicago Cultural Center with a selection of off-site projects, related exhibitions, and programming in neighborhoods all across the city. All events and exhibits are free and open to the public.

What is the Chicago Architecture Biennial?

The Biennial is a bi-annual, city-wide architecture exhibition that showcases the latest innovations in design and architecture from across the globe. The Chicago-based collective Floating Museum will drive the event’s artistic vision, which is centered around the theme This is a Rehearsal. The exhibition will explore how contemporary issues are shared across the globe but are addressed differently through art, architecture, and infrastructure.

The diverse types of Biennial programs can include:

• Exhibitions
• Pop-ups
• Site activations
• Public lectures and talks
• Workshops or conferences
• Youth educational activities
• Community festivals
• Performance/film/video/media screenings
• Tours
• Open houses at a place of architectural significance

Where is the Chicago Architecture Biennial?

The Biennial events will be centered in the iconic Chicago Cultural Center. There will also be more than 100 partner sites and organizations across downtown and the city’s neighborhoods, both serving as host venues and producing independent exhibitions and public programming.

A few of the city sites and organizations that will partner with the fifth edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial include:

• Southside Community Art Center
• Urban Growers Collective
• South Chicago Farm
• Devon Avenue
• Poetry Foundation
• Hyde Park Art Center
• Volume Gallery
• 6018NORTH
• Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

The city sites open on Sept. 21, 2023, and the Chicago Cultural Center exhibits will open in November. Check the Chicago Architecture Biennial website for more information and exhibit details.