Updated with Exhibitors: Details for US Pavilion at 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale Announced

John Hill

31. August 2017

US Pavilion curators: Mimi Zeiger, Niall Atkinson, Ann Lui (Photo: Nancy Wong)

Two Chicago institutions have been selected by the U.S. Department of State to serve as co-commissioners of the United States Pavilion at next year's Venice Architecture Biennale.

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) and the University of Chicago were selected in an open competition with Dimensions of Citizenship, an exhibition to be curated by Niall Atkinson, Associate Professor of Architectural History at the University of Chicago; Ann Lui, Assistant Professor at SAIC and co-founder of the architecture office Future Firm; and Mimi Zeiger, an independent critic, editor, curator, and educator based in Los Angeles.

Per a joint statement from the two institutions, "Dimensions of Citizenship will grapple with the meaning of citizenship as a cluster of rights and responsibilities at the intersection of legal, political, economic, and societal affiliations. Contemporary issues in the world today – from immigration to the impact of technology on individuals and nations – make it clear that now, and in the years to come, the stakes of citizenship are exceedingly high."

The same statement quotes the curators:

It is urgent that architecture act as an important tool in understanding, shaping, and envisioning what it means to be a citizen today. Our goal is to present the United States as a site of critical research and practice in architecture, at the intersection of old and new forms of community engagement, political action, and public policy. Globalization, digital technology, and geopolitical transformations are continuing to challenge conventional notions of citizenship across scales. This exhibition will present works by architects, designers, artists, and thinkers who are responding to today’s shifting modes of citizenship, and putting forth visions of future ways of belonging.

The 16th International Architecture Exhibition at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale is being curated by Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of Grafton Architects under the theme Freespace. The Biennale opens 26 May 2018 and runs until 25 November 2018.

Updated 12 September: The curatorial team has announced the architects, landscape architects, and designers who will create work for Dimensions of Citizenship: