Chicago-based Art Collective Floating Museum has been named as Artistic Directors of the 2023 Chicago Architecture Biennial, which will celebrate its fifth edition in September 2023.

The Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB), North America’s leading architecture and design exhibition, will held its upcoming event unde the theme of "This is a Rehearsal" in which the theme will explore cities as sites of perpetual transformation.

Floating Museum is co-directed by Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford, Faheem Majeed, Andrew Schachman, and avery r. young. 

The group is a collective of artists, designers, poets, and educators focused on building connections between art, community, architecture, and public institutions.

Under the artistic vision of Floating Museum, the aim of the Biennial is to "continue to push its exhibition and program model and to prioritize presenting innovative ideas that imagine and shape the future of architecture and design."

A Lion for Every House 2022, courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

The theme of This is a Rehearsal intends to open the boundaries across geographies and scales and aims to "explore how contemporary environmental, political, and economic issues are shared across national boundaries but are addressed differently around the world through art, architecture, infrastructure, and civic participation." 

With the theme of This is a Rehearsal, Floating Museum will elevate site-responsive art works, design projects and public programs to explore divergent interpretations of infrastructure, history, and the role of aesthetics as a mode for expanding how we frame the relationship between our environments and ourselves.

"Floating Museum is organized to work at the intersection of disciplines, where civic participation inspires and shapes our process. It’s both a thrill and challenge to collaborate with the CAB as the artistic team of the 2023 edition," said the Floating Museum. 

"We view this as a tremendous chance to coordinate exchanges between Chicago networks and practitioners around the world. We see this as a platform where work happening in Chicago can inform work happening elsewhere, and reciprocally, where work happening around the world can inspire work happening here," the Floating Museum added.

Founders 2019. Image © Eric Perez

Since its founding in 2015, CAB has supported projects and commissions created by more than 400 architects, designers, and artists from over 40 countries. CAB acts as a platform designed to highlight and explore innovation in the field, CAB is poised to present a global event that responds to changes in the way we gather, engage, and learn.

"Developing the supportive infrastructure of our city—both in terms of the physical infrastructure and public programs—are a top priority for my administration and presents unique opportunities to uplift our historically underserved communities," said Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. 

"Under the direction of the artistic team, which has already undertaken ambitious projects to creatively support and promote our city, the 2023 Chicago Architecture Biennial will bring innovative ideas and projects to life, as well as spark important dialogue here in Chicago," Lori E. Lightfoot added.

Monument Reassembly 2020. Image © Nathan Keay

Like in previous Biennials, CAB 5 will expand its collaborations with a broad spectrum of local and global partners, including Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), who will once again serve as the Biennial’s official Presenting Partner to host programs at the Chicago Cultural Center and across the city.

CAB 5 launch The Chicago Design Summit

Starting November 2022, CAB 5 will launch a new event: The Chicago Design Summit. The event is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Graham Foundation, the Summit will bring together global practitioners from diverse fields to explore emerging ideas in contemporary architecture and design. 

The Summit is aimed to serve as a forum for research and the development of the CAB 5 program. 

"This opportunity is a catalyst for collaboration and partnership, and it offers a platform for participants to share and respond to ideas related to This is a Rehearsal," stated in a press statement by CAB.

"Rooted in Chicago, with a vision that transcends borders, the Floating Museum the collective is the ideal artistic team to lead the 2023 Biennial,” stated Jack Guthman, Chairman of the Board of CAB. 

"Their always imaginative response to issues of the moment promises an exhibition which will engage CAB’s many audiences: the profession, visitors to our city from near and far, and Chicagoans of all ages," Guthman added.

River Assembly 2017, courtesy of Floating Museum

CAB will announce a schedule of in-person and virtual programs, including youth workshops, conversations, and community event throughout the coming year on CAB’s website. 

Over the coming months, CAB will continue to announce collaborations and initiatives developed by local and global architects, artists, and designers.

The artistic vision of the 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial was curated by designer, researcher, and educator David Brown under the theme of The Available City. 

The Chicago Architecture Biennial is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating an international forum on architecture and urbanism by producing year-round programs and a biennial exposition of city-wide activations for a diverse audience of designers, educators, advocates, students, and local communities.

Top image: Floating Museum. Image © Steve Metzer.

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Chicago Architecture Biennial