books _ REVIEW OF CANDELA IN CHICAGO
Review of Félix Candela from Mexico City to Chicago in NEWCITY, March 2025.
talk _ LECTURE ON CANDELA IN CHICAGO AT UWM
“Félix Candela from Mexico City to Chicago,” lecture at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning, February 14, 2025.
award _ AIA/ACSA HOUSING DESIGN EDUCATION AWARD
“At Home with the Collective: A Seminar and Studio on the Future of Housing” received the 2025 AIA/ACSA Housing Design Education Award.
…talk _ TRACING / TRACES TALK ON HILBERSEIMER’S INTERIORS
Presentation on Hilberseimer’s Interiors at Tracing/Traces, Ryerson & Burham Archives, Art Institute of Chicago, November 9, 2024.
book/conference/talk _ BOOK LAUNCH OF FÉLIX CANDELA FROM MEXICO CITY TO CHICAGO
Book Launches at the Graham Foundation in Chicago (5:30 pm on November 21, 2024) and the Ateneo Español de México in Mexico City (12 pm on January 25, 2025).
…book/conference/talk _ BOOK LAUNCH OF FÉLIX CANDELA FROM MEXICO CITY TO CHICAGORead More »
essay _ OASE #118
“The Ever-Contemporary History of Housing,” OASE Journal for Architecture #118, September 2024: 56-60.
…teaching/exhibit _ REVIEW OF 1:1 UNIT MOCKUP
UIC Today features Collective Housing Studio and Exhibit, “Architecture Students Explore Big and Small Ideas for Housing,” July 29, 2024.
teaching/research _ ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF A UNIT
“One Day in the Life of a Unit,” performance and exhibit, Graduate Research Studio, UIC School of Architecture, May 2024.
…teaching/research _ ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF A UNITRead More »
book _ FÉLIX CANDELA FROM MEXICO CITY TO CHICAGO: RISE AND FALL OF EXPERIMENTATION IN CONCRETE
Félix Candela from Mexico City to Chicago: Rise and Fall of Experimentation in Concrete, ed. Alexander Eisenschmidt (Barcelona: Actar, 2024).
…talk _ SPEAKING AT UIC’S SPARK TALKS
Speaking at the inaugural Spark Talks, convened by the UIC Chancellor, Nov. 17, 2023. Featured in UIC Today.
…conference _ AT HOME WITH THE COLLECTIVE (A TEASER)
Impressions from the collective housing summit. To view all recordings, visit UIC’s School of Architecture YouTube channel.
…conference _ AT HOME WITH THE COLLECTIVE (A TEASER)Read More »
conference _ GLOBAL SUMMIT ON COLLECTIVE HOUSING
“At Home with the Collective: A Summit on Communal Housing,” convened at UIC Architecture in Chicago, Thursday, October 19 – Friday, October 20, 2023. This 2-day summit gathered speakers from around the world, local stakeholders and activists, as well as city officials who have radically rethought established norms of living, models of homeownership, and the formal, programmatic, material, and legal parameters of housing. Our ambition was to generate new knowledge that can confront the current struggle for affordability and speak to the potential of collective housing as a productive challenge for architecture.
…
talk _ FROM HOUSE TO HOUSING AND FROM OLD INFRASTRUCTURE TO SMART LIVING
“From House to Housing and from Old Infrastructure to Smart Living,” lecture and round table discussion at the Smart Cities Symposium, Casablanca, Morocco, June 8, 2023.
…talk _ FROM HOUSE TO HOUSING AND FROM OLD INFRASTRUCTURE TO SMART LIVINGRead More »
books _ GRAHAM FOUNDATION AWARD FOR CANDELA BOOK
The book project Félix Candela from Mexico City to Chicago was awarded a 2023 Graham Foundation publication grant.
talk _ Collective Bargaining for Collective Housing
“Collective Bargaining for Collective Housing: Hilberseimer, Goldberg, and the Labor Union’s Struggle Towards New Typologies of Living,” lecture at ACSA 111th Annual Meeting, In Commons, March 31, 2023, 10:30-12pm.
talk _ Hilberseimer, Labor Unions, and the Women’s Movement
Talk and round table to discuss the themed issue of The Plan Journal, vol. 7, no. 2, Fall 2022 on “The Right to Housing,” at ACSA Annual Meeting in St. Louis, March 31, 2023, 4-5:30pm.
essay _ HILBERSEIMER, LABOR UNIONS, AND THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT
“Hilberseimer, Labor Unions, and the Women’s Movement,” The Plan Journal Vol. 7, Issue #2 The Right to Housing (Spring 2023), 299-323.
…essay _ HILBERSEIMER, LABOR UNIONS, AND THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENTRead More »
talk _ PREVIEW OF CANDELA BOOK PROJECT
“In Search of Félix Candela in Chicago,” lecture for We@UIC, February 15, 1pm … an introduction of the forthcoming edited volume on Félix Candela in Chicago.
essay _ From the Existing City to Collective Housing
“From the Existing City to Collective Housing,” in Reading Hilberseimer, ed. Florian Strob, Reihe Bauwelt Fundamente (Berlin: Birkhäuser, 2022), 99-113.
…essay _ From the Existing City to Collective HousingRead More »
teaching/research _ SPACES OF SOLIDARITY IN COLLECTIVE HOUSING
“Rehearsals in Solidarity of Collective Space,” a seminar and performance at UIC Architecture, Dec. 2022.
…teaching/research _ SPACES OF SOLIDARITY IN COLLECTIVE HOUSINGRead More »
design _ ONE ROOM HOUSE UNDER CONSTRUCTION
One Room House under construction, Potsdam, Germany, 2022-23.
research/conference _ INNOVATION AWARD
Innovation Grant from the Humanities Institute at UIC awarded for the research and conference “At Home with the Collective,” 2023.
…design _ LAKE SHORE HUT FEATURE
Lake Shore Hut featured in Inscriptions: Architecture Before Speech, eds. K.Michael Hays and Andrew Holder (2022), 160.
research _ MAS Context
Conversation and feature of seminar and studio work on Collective Housing now published in MAS Context. Read it here.
design _ BATHROOM FOR SMALL AND BIG PEOPLE
Bathroom design for small and big people, 2022.
…talk _ FESTSCHRIFT FOR DAVID LEATHERBARROW
“City Beyond Form,” lecture for a Festschrift in honor of Prof. David Leatherbarrow at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, May 20, 2022.
…research _ LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
“Location, Location, Location: Identifying Sites for Housing in Chicago,” a research and teaching project, UIC Architecture, February 2022.
…
essay _ EXHIBITION REVIEW
“Romanticism to Ruin: Two Lost Works of Sullivan and Wright, at Wrightwood 659,” The Burlington Magazine #163, (December 2021): 1192-1195.
…essay _ CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE
“Three Episodes on Urban Potential,” for Chicago Architecture Biennial: The Available City, catalogue (2021). Online reading here.
talk _ BAUHAUS HILBERSEIMER CONFERENCE
“Invention of a Metropolitan Architecture: From the Existing City to Interior Urbanism” lecture at the Bauhaus Dessau Conference Hilberseimer – Infrastructures of Modernity, October 28, 2021.
…essay _ Notes on Urban Spielraum
“Notes on Urban Spielraum,” Magasin for Bygningskunst og Kultur, #2 The Art of Analysis (2021). Read online here.
research/teaching _ HOMEWORK: TRANSFORMABLE PLANS FOR ADOPTABLE LIVING
Homework: Transformable Plans for Adoptable Living, a seminar on work in the confines of home, 2021.
…research/teaching _ HOMEWORK: TRANSFORMABLE PLANS FOR ADOPTABLE LIVINGRead More »
essay _ Preface
“Preface,” in Trans-Atlantic Engagements, ed. Steffen Lehmann (San Francisco: ORO Editions, 2021), 9-13.
…research/teaching _ HOMEWORK: ELEMENTS OF TRANSFORMATION
Homework: Elements of Transformation, a catalog of transformable spaces that accommodate work in the confines of home, 2021.
…research/teaching _ HOMEWORK: ELEMENTS OF TRANSFORMATIONRead More »
conference _ ROUNDTABLE AT CCA
Roundtable discussion on “Public Space and Collectivity” at the Urbanism Beyond Corona Symposium hosted by the Urban Works Agency at the California Center of Art, Nov. 16, 9am (PST).
talk _ Jefferson University
Lecture on “The Good Metropolis” at Jefferson University, College of Architecture and the Built Environment, 6pm, September 21, 2020.
research _ Award for Creative Activity
The Office of the Vice Chancellor of Research at UIC awarded Eisenschmidt the Creative Activity Prize for the book project Felix Candela in Chicago, 2020.
research _ Distinguished Faculty Award
Eisenschmidt received the Distinguished Faculty Award for 2020-2022 from the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts at UIC.
review _ Good Metropolis
Review of The Good Metropolis in Architectural Record. Daniel Brook writes: “Eisenschmidt audaciously argues that a central tension in modern city-building has gone hiding in plain sight. While architects are by nature control freaks, sweating the details of their artifacts, the space where their creations are housed—the modern metropolis—is, by nature, out of control … All should eagerly tune in to his future broadcasts.”
design _ BLOCK PARTY
Block Party, Plaza Design for 12th District, Near West side, Chicago, 2019.
…talk _ EUROPE BOOK TOUR
Lecture tour across Europe in fall of 2019 to introduce and launch The Good Metropolis.
…NIGHT WHITE SKIES INTERVIEW
Interview about The Good Metropolis on Night White Skies by Sean Lally. Listen to the Podcast at Night White Skies, iTunes, or Spotify.
exhibit _ CITY OF URBAN INVENTIONS
Drawing exhibited at Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism: Collective City, Seoul, Korea, September 7 – November 10, 2019.
…
book _ BOOK LAUNCH
The Good Metropolis Salon, a book launch and conversation on the productive tension between the city and architectural form, at UIC Architecture, South Lobby, A+D Studios, April 30, 6pm.
talk _ Urban Optics II
“Urban Optics and the Specter of a Beautiful Metropolis (II)” Public Lecture at the School of Literatures, Cultural Studies, and Linguistics, University of Illinois at Chicago, April 15, 2019.
talk _ Urban Optics I
Lecture on the “Urban Optics and the Specter of a Beautiful Metropolis (I)” at the Bauhaus Beyond Borders conference at Northwestern University, Chicago, April 5-7, 2019.
Radio Interview
Radio Interview at Buildings on Air, # 25, live on WLPN/Lumpen Radio (February 2, 2019).
book _ THE GOOD METROPOLIS
The Good Metropolis: From Urban Formlessness to Metropolitan Architecture (Berlin: Birkhäuser, 2019). Supported by a Graham Foundation Publication Grant and a Getty Foundation Library Research Residency.
talk _ Bowling
Remarks at book launch of Bowling by UrbanLab, UIC Architecture, December 11, 2018.
research _ AN INVENTORY OF ARCHITECTURAL FICTIONS OF THE CITY
An inventory of architectural fictions of the city …
…research _ AN INVENTORY OF ARCHITECTURAL FICTIONS OF THE CITYRead More »
essay _ STORY OF AN INTERSECTION
“The Story of an Intersection, or How Early Chicago Became an Urban Laboratory,” Architectural Theory Review, 2018, vol. 22, #2, p. 233-248.
…teaching _ LEARNING FROM MEXICO CITY STUDIO: IN SEARCH FOR AN ARCHITECTURAL URBANISM
Learning form Mexico City Studio: In Search for an Architectural Urbanism
…teaching _ LEARNING FROM MEXICO CITY STUDIO: IN SEARCH FOR AN ARCHITECTURAL URBANISMRead More »
conference _ PANEL AT ENTANGLED URBANISM SYMPOSIUM
Moderating panel at the Entangled Urbanism symposium at Northwestern University, Evanston, May 17-18, 2018.
design _ PROJECT EXHIBITED AT HARVARD
Studio Offshore/Alexander Eisenschmidt, Lakeshore Hut Project, part of “Inscriptions: Architecture Before Speech” exhibition at Druker Design Gallery, Harvard Graduate School of Design, January 23 – March 11, 2018. Curated by K. Michael Hays and Andrew Holder.
…research _ IN THE FIELD: MEXICO CITY’S ARCHITECTURAL URBANISM
In the Field: Mexico City’s Architectural Urbanism
…research _ IN THE FIELD: MEXICO CITY’S ARCHITECTURAL URBANISMRead More »
research/teaching _ Teaching Recognition Award
Recipient of the 2018 UIC Teaching Recognition Award. Thanks to the faculty award committee, the Office of the Provost, and the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
archive _ MAPS FROM TENOCHTITLÁN TO MEXICO CITY
Collection of Maps from Tenochtitlán to Mexico City
…City of Architectural Fiction
Journal of Architectural Education (JAE 72:1) published the “City of Architectural Fiction” drawing (previously on view at Lisbon Triennale, 2016) as part of the Discursive Image series.
exhibit _ Félix Candela’s Concrete Shells: An Engineered Architecture for Mexico and Chicago
Curating and exhibition design of Félix Candela’s Concrete Shells: An Engineered Architecture for Mexico and Chicago, Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago, January 19 – March 3, 2018 (with research and models originated by Juan Ignacio del Cueto Ruiz-Funes).
…talk _ Architecture of an Accelerated Metropolis
Keynote, “Architecture of an Accelerated Metropolis,” for the conference “Chicago Schools: Authors, Audiences, Histories” at IIT’s Crown Hall, Chicago, November 18, 2017, 3:30pm.
research/teaching _ Silver Circle Award
The College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts at UIC recognizes Eisenschmidt with the Silver Circle Award for teaching. Thanks to the graduating class of 2017 that selects the recipient.
book _ THE PROJECT(S) OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE
Twentieth-Century Architecture (The Project(s) of Modern Architecture), co-edited with David Leatherbarrow, vol. 4 in The Companions to the History of Architecture, ed. Harry Francis Mallgrave (Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2017).
…
design _ STAIRCASE APT.
Staircase apartment (renovation and expansion), Indiana Ave., Chicago, 2017.
…research/teaching _ ACSA CREATIVE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) recognizes Eisenschmidt with the ACSA Creative Achievement Award for his “teaching, design, and scholarship … that advances architectural education.”
talk _ Columbia University
Lecture, “In Pursuit of an Architectural Urbanism,” at GSAPP Columbia University, New York, February 15, 2017, 3 pm.
conference _ MODERATION OF LOGISTICS PANEL
Remarks and moderating panel at The Logistical City symposium organized by Clare Lyster and hosted by the UIC Institute of Humanities, February 7, 2017, 9am-5:30pm.
talk _ MICHIGAN LECTURE
Lecture, “The City as Visionary Project,” to the Urban Design Program at the Taubman College, University of Michigan, February 3, 2017, 6pm.
interview _ CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Interview in Chicago Tribune Arts Section cover story, January 15, 2017.
essay _ AUTOPIA
“Autopia: Notes on Banham’s Visionary Metropolis,” Joelho: Journal of Architectural Culture #07 (Fall 2016): 54-63.
…
exhibit _ LETTER TO LISBON
“Dear Mayor Fernando Medina,” at the Letters to the Mayor exhibition, Galeria dos Paços do Concelho, Lisbon, Portugal, October 10 – November 30, 2016 (org. Storefront for Art and Architecture and Lisbon Triennial of Architecture).
…exhibit _ 4th Lisbon Architecture Triennale
Citation of “Search for an Architectural Urbanism,” in The Form of Form (Zurich: Lars Müller and Trienal de Arquitectura de Lisboa, 2016), 118-119 and “Urbano Fantástico,” in O Mundo nos Nossos Olhos – The World in Our Eyes (Lisbon: Trienal de Arquitectura de Lisboa, 2016), 8-9.
…VC News
VC Project featured in UIC News
talk _ In Pursuit of an Architectural Urbanism
Lecture, “In Pursuit of an Architectural Urbanism,” at KU Leuven Campus Sint-Lucas, Brussels, Belgium, October 10, 2016, 6:30pm.
essay _ THE LIST OF 38
The Opinionator (A. Eisenschmidt), “The List of 38,” Flat Out #1 (Fall 2016): 2,12-17.
…exhibit _ “IN SEARCH FOR AN ARCHITECTURAL URBANISM” AT LISBON ARCHITECTURE TRIENNALE
In Search for an Architectural Urbanism, exhibited at The World in Our Eyes, part of the 4th Lisbon Architecture Triennale, Lisbon, Portugal, October 6, 2016 – January 15, 2017.
exhibit _ “IN SEARCH FOR AN ARCHITECTURAL URBANISM” AT LISBON ARCHITECTURE TRIENNALERead More »
book _ GETTY FOUNDATION LIBRARY RESEARCH GRANT
Thanks to the Getty Foundation for supporting the book project The Good Metropolis with the Library Research Grant, Summer 2016.
research/teaching _ RESEARCHER OF THE YEAR AWARD
University of Illinois at Chicago names Eisenschmidt the “Rising Star – Researcher of the Year 2015.” Ceremony: February 17, 3:30pm.
design _ URBAN DESIGN FOR UIC VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS CENTER (Finalist)
Urban Design for the Visual + Performing Arts Center at UIC, 2016 (competition finalist).
…design _ URBAN DESIGN FOR UIC VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS CENTER (Finalist)Read More »
design _ Monument to Missed Opportunities
Monument to Missed Opportunities for the 7th Ward, Chicago. Exhibited as part of “50 Designers, 50 Ideas, 50 Wards,” Chicago Architecture Foundation, May 24 – December 1, 2016.
…exhibit _ Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture Catalog
“Collective City,” in Re-Living the City: UABB 2015 Catalogue (Barcelona: Actar, 2016), 130-135.
…exhibit _ Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture CatalogRead More »
exhibit _ “COLLECTIVE CITY” AT THE BI-CITY BIENNALE OF URBANISM\ARCHITECTURE
Collective City exhibition at the 2015 Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture in Shenzhen, China, December 4, 2015 – March 1, 2016.
exhibit _ “COLLECTIVE CITY” AT THE BI-CITY BIENNALE OF URBANISM\ARCHITECTURERead More »
design _ Shenzhen Biennale Exhibit
Collective City Exhibit, Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism, China, 2015.
…exhibits _ PHANTOM CHICAGO @ ARCHRECORD
Architectural Record publishes Phantom Chicago Panorama in the article “High Time: Chicago Skyscrapers,” October 2015.
talk _ CITY AS LABORATORY
Talk “City as Laboratory” and roundtable discussion on “Chicago’s Global History,” Cultural Center of Chicago, 78 E. Washington, October 16, 2015, 6pm.
…talk _ CROWN HALL ROUNDTABLE
“When You’re Having More Than One,” Roundtable discussion on design criticism, IIT, Crown Hall, October 3, 2015, 6-7:30pm.
interview _ DeutschlandRadio for ChiBiennale
Radio interview about Chicago Architecture Biennial; DeutschlandRadio Kultur, October 3, 2015.
essay _ A HISTORY OF CHICAGO IN TEN ARCHITECTURES
A conclusion to the catalog and an introduction to the city: “A History of Chicago in Ten Architectures,” in Chicago Architecture Biennial: The State of the Art of Architecture, catalog (CAB Publishing, 2015), 153-159.
essay _ A HISTORY OF CHICAGO IN TEN ARCHITECTURESRead More »
design _ 160′ OF CURTAIN
Curtain system design for the art exhibition “Into Body Into Wall” by Maria Gaspar at Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, Chicago, September-December 2015.
…interview _ ON THE FERRIS WHEEL @NPR’S ALL THINGS CONSIDERED
Radio interview about Chicago’s Ferris Wheel by NPR’s All Things Considered, July 2, 2015 (broadcasted July 3).
book _ Graham Foundation Publication Grant
Graham Foundation Publication Grant for The Good Metropolis book project, 2015.
essay _ IN SUPPORT OF THE SPECULATIVE PROJECT
“In Support of the Speculative Project – A Chicago Legacy,” MAS Context #25-26, “Legacy” issue (Spring-Summer 2015): 12-19.
…research/teaching _ ARTICLE ON STUDIO
Archinect published review of recent studio of the Visionary Cities Project at UIC Architecture.
interview, talk _ DIALOGUES ON URBANIZATION
Round-table discussion on Urbanization with Adriaan Geuze, Wiel Arets, Vedran Mimica, Martin Felsen, and Kees Lokman at IIT Architecture, March 23, 2015, 1:30pm.
talk _ KEYNOTE AT AFTER EMPIRICAL URBANISM SYMPOSIUM
Keynote at the “After Empirical Urbanism” symposium, University of Toronto, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, March 1, 2015, 1:30pm.
research/teaching _ SEARCH FOR AN ARCHITECTURAL URBANISM
Collective drawing of a “modernist” Campo … the project of architecture as that of the city. (image zoom)
…research/teaching _ SEARCH FOR AN ARCHITECTURAL URBANISMRead More »
conference _ CHICAGOISMS: A CITY TO SPECULATE?
Conference “A City to Speculate?” Chicago Cultural Center, Millennium Park Room, 5th floor, 4-6 PM, November 22, 2014.
…exhibit _ CHICAGOISMS
Reviews of Chicagoisms exhibit in Domus, Architectural Record, DesignBoom, Architect, Dwell, Huffington Post, Canadian Architect, …. (full list)
book _ CHICAGOISMS REVIEW
Chicagoisms makes Architecture Boston (AB) List of top books to read in 1914, followed by Koolhaas’ Delirious New York and Wolfe’s From Bauhaus to Our House.
talk _ EUROPE LECTURE TOUR
“The Export of Metropolitan Architecture” lecture at the AA in London, UK (10/28), the University of Kent, UK (10/29), Hochparterre in Zürich, CH (10/30), the OfficeUS at the Venice Biennale, IT (10/31), and Pro qm in Berlin, DE (11/03).
…essay _ METROPOLITAN ARCHITECTURE in GREY ROOM
“Metropolitan Architecture: Karl Scheffler and Alfred Messel’s Search for a New Urbanity,” Grey Room #56 (Summer 2014): 90-115.
…book _ CHICAGOISMS REVIEW
Book Reviews of Chicagoisms in Dwell, Chicago Reader, the Mexican journal Arquine, and the German magazines Wohnrevue and Umriss.
talk _ Visionary at CAF
“A New Visionary;” lecture at the “Instruments for Urban Production” symposium in conjunction with the book launch of The Petropolis of Tomorrow and hosted at the Chicago Architecture Foundation, April 25, 2014, 6pm.
talk, exhibit _ CHICAGOISMS GALLERY TALK
Gallery Talk on “Chicagoisms” at the Art Institute of Chicago, April 24, 2014, 6pm.
exhibit _ CHICAGO TRIBUNE
“Chicagoisms” exhibit featured on TV at WTTW and headlined Chicago Tribune Arts Section: “Small Gallery Stuffed with Big Architectural Ideas” by Blair Kamin.
talk _ CHICAGOISMS BOOK LAUNCH
Book launch event with panel discussion and reception at the Graham Foundation, April 5, 2014, 2pm.
…exhibit _ “CHICAGOISMS” AT THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
Chicagoisms exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago, Kurokawa Gallery, April 24, 2014 – January 4, 2015. Co-organized and curated with Jonathan Mekinda; exhibition design by Studio Offshore (Eisenschmidt) in collaboration with graphic designer Matthew Wizinsky.
…exhibit _ “CHICAGOISMS” AT THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGORead More »
interview _ Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader publishes interview and book review of “Chicagoisms.”
research/teaching _ CONVERSATIONS ON THE CITY
CONVERSATIONS ON THE CITY: This is an ongoing series of conversations on topics related to the contemporary city. The core of these dialogues lies in the pursuit of an architectural urbanism, in identifying different forms of engagements with the city, and in formulating the project of architecture as that of the city. Recordings of conversations include: Martin Felsen, Winy Maas, Stanley Tigerman, Bernard Tschumi (published in City Catalyst with AD), Andrew Zago, and Elia Zenghelis.
…talk _ AIAS KEYNOTE SESSION
“The New Visionary,” a talk at the Opening Keynote Session at the AIAS Forum in Chicago: “Prospects for an Evolving Profession,” Fairmont Chicago, December 30, 2013, 4pm.
talk _ IIT Lecture
Lecture on “Chicagoism” at Mies’ IIT Crown Hall, October 25, 2013, 12:30pm.
book _ CHICAGOISMS
Chicagoisms: The City as Catalyst for Architectural Speculation, eds. Alexander Eisenschmidt with Jonathan Mekinda (Zürich: Scheidegger & Spiess/Park Books, 2013).
…exhibit _ COMPOSITION OF AN “IDEAL CITY”
Over the duration of the exhibition City Works, the models traveled throughout the gallery, visiting different parts of the panorama’s visionary history, and, finally, came together to create a new collective project of the city – one that is intended as Provocation for Chicago’s Urban Future.
…talk _ Gallery Talk at Expo 72
Gallery Talk, at the occasion of the exhibition City Works: Provocations for Chicago’s Urban Future at the Expo 72 Gallery, September 18, 2013, 5:30pm.
exhibit _ “CITY WORKS: PROVOCATIONS FOR CHICAGO’S URBAN FUTURE” AT CHICAGO CULTURAL CENTER
City Works: Provocation for Chicago’s Urban Future exhibition at the City of Chicago’s Cultural Center – Expo 72 Gallery (72 E. Randolph Street, Chicago), May 24 – September 29, 2013.
…exhibit _ VISIONARY CHICAGO PANORAMA
Panorama of a Visionary Chicago, produced first for the 13th Architecture Biennale in Venice (2012) and redesigned and expanded for a display at the city of Chicago’s Cultural Center Expo 72 Gallery, measuring 160′ in length.
…exhibit _ Press on Phantom City Panorama & App
The Atlantic reviewed the Phantom Panorama Exhibition & App.
research/exhibit _ VISIONARY CITY iPHONE APP
The Visionary Cities Project developed an iPhone app in collaboration with Cheng+Snyder (www.chengsnyder.com).
…research/teaching _ WISH YOU WERE HERE!
“Wish you were here!” This project explores spatial, organizational, and material ingenuities born out of the forces and pressures of the contemporary city.
essay _ STRANGER THAN FICTION
Chapter “Stranger Than Fiction,” in Once Upon a Place, eds. Susana Oliveira and Pedro Gadanho (Lisbon: Caleidoscópio, 2013), 121-31.
…talk _ LESS PLANNING, MORE VISION!
Invited speaker at the National Conference of the American Planning Association, Chicago, April 15, 2013 [a talk, intended as a provocation to planning].
…interview _ CHICAGO AT THE BIENNALE
Panel discussion and interview on the exhibition “City Works” for the Venice Architecture Biennale at the Arts Club of Chicago, December 4, 2012. The panel was moderated by Sarah Herda (Director of the Graham Foundation).
…interview _ WITH BERNARD TSCHUMI
“Importing the City into Architecture,” a conversation with Bernard Tschumi, conducted on July 13, 2011 in New York and published in City Catalyst, Architectural Design, #219 (2012), 130-135.
…talk _ CITY CATALYST
Public lecture for the official lecture series at John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto, November 15, 2012.
Book Launch of City Catalyst at UIC
Book Launch of City Catalyst at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago (September 22, 2012, 1pm) and Launch Party at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s School of Architecture (October 5, 2012, 6pm).
book _ CITY CATALYST
City Catalyst: Architecture in the Age of Extreme Urbanization, Architectural Design, # 219 (September/October 2012).
…conference _ VISIONARY CITIES: URBAN AND ARCHITECTURAL FUTURES TO COME
International conference on the state of visionary urbanism, in collaboration with and hosted at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, 10am-6pm, September 22, 2012 (over 200 attendees, 3 panels, 15 speakers, 3 moderators). Event is featured in full length at Radio WBEZ-NPR.
…conference _ VISIONARY CITIES: URBAN AND ARCHITECTURAL FUTURES TO COMERead More »
exhibit _ VISIONARY CHICAGO: A GUIDE TO URBAN AND ARCHITECTURAL DREAMS
Video installation at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, September 10 – 23, 2012.
research/teaching _ LOBBYING ARCHITECTURE
Lobbying Architecture, a global design workshop for the Architectural Association in London.
…interview _ BIENNALE ARCHITETTURA 2012 – ALEXANDER EISENSCHMIDT
Video interview at the 13th Venice Biennale about the curation of City Works, August 2012, aired on September 2012 at La Biennale Channel [4 min].
essay _ FANTASTISCHES BERLIN. DIE ENTDECKUNG EINER NEUEN METROPOLE
“Fantastisches Berlin. Die Entdeckung einer Neuen Metropole,” in August Endell 1871-1925: Architekt und Formkünstler, eds. Nicola Bröcker, Gisela Moeller, Christiane Salge (Berlin: Michael Imhof Verlag, 2012), 326-335; a collection of essays on the works of August Endell. Reviewed in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Kunstchronik.
…essay _ FANTASTISCHES BERLIN. DIE ENTDECKUNG EINER NEUEN METROPOLERead More »
exhibit _ “CITY WORKS” AT THE 13th VENICE ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE
Designer and curator of City Works exhibition at the 13th International Architecture Biennale in Venice, Italy, August 27 – November 25, 2012.
Invited by David Chipperfield, director of the 13th Venice Biennale, Eisenschmidt designed and curated an exhibition that re-envisions a series of Chicago’s urban environments. The installation is a collaborative effort of 5 teams that involves a large model of a visionary Chicago (12’x12′, produced by David Brown, Studio Gang, Stanley Tigerman, and UrbanLab) as well as an encompassing drawing (100’ long) that creates a visual backdrop. The outside of the screen (produced by the Visionary Cities Project/Alexander Eisenschmidt) is a panorama of a Phantom Chicago, entirely composed of unbuilt visionary proposals for the city.
…exhibit _ “CITY WORKS” AT THE 13th VENICE ARCHITECTURE BIENNALERead More »
exhibit _ “VISIONARY CHICAGO II” AT CAF
Visionary City: Chicago’s Urban and Architectural Dreams exhibition at the Chicago Architecture Foundation, June 21, 2012 – May, 2013.
exhibit _ VC CATALOG ON DISPLAY AT THE MCA CHICAGO
VC: Catalog of Visionary Architectures for Chicago was part of the official reference display at the Museum of Contemporary Art for the exhibition Skyscraper: Art and Architecture Against Gravity, June 30 – Sep 23, 2012.
…exhibit _ VC CATALOG ON DISPLAY AT THE MCA CHICAGORead More »
essay _ REVIEWS EDITORSHIP AT JAE
Design and implementation of a new format for reviews in architecture at the Journal of Architectural Education, 2012-2013. For the first time, the section is curated around themes rather than media.
…essay _ URBAN FORM x3
Review of The Liberal Monument: Urban Design and the Late Modern Project, by Alexander D’Hooghe, Journal of Architectural Education, #65:2 (May 2012): 143-145.
talk _ CITIES – GRAND FICTIONS
Keynote lecture at the Manufactured Landscapes conference, Chicago, May 19, 2012.
interview _ NON-CONCEPT CITY
“The Non-Concept City,” a discussion on urbanism with Edward Mitchell, including Robert Bruegmann, Ellen Grimes, Tim Mennel, Jonathan Miller, organized by New Projects, Chicago, March 13, 2012. The exchange was published in the Journal of Architectural Education #66.1, October 2012.
…research/teaching _ EXTRAPOLATED CITY
Extrapolated City exagerates isolated conditions of the existing city in order to create new forms of urbanism, where rivers runs through intersections, bridges start to cross between skyscrapers, lakes appear in the Loop, rooftops become lush gardens, buildings begin to set back, vertical parks grow tall, urban graphics are written into the shoreline, and individual monuments form historical archipelagos.
…essay _ EXHIBITING THE CITY
Review of Urban China: Informal Cities (exhibition), Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, #71:1 (March 2012): 129-31.
…interview _ CONVERSATION ABOUT ARCHITECTURE ON DISPLAY
Published in Four Conversations on the Architecture of Discourse, eds. Aaron Levy and William Menking (London: AA Publications, 2012). Excerpts from a recorded discussion, organized and hosted by the Graham Foundation, on the state of architectural exhibitions, April 27, 2011 (other participants: Sarah Herda (host), William Menking, Aaron Levy, Penelope Dean, Theaster Gates, Mark Wasiuta, Lisa Lee, …).
…interview _ CONVERSATION ABOUT ARCHITECTURE ON DISPLAYRead More »
talk _ CHICAGOISM: A CITY’S VISIONARY ARCHITECTURAL DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES
Public lecture at The Arts Club of Chicago, Chicago, February 7, 2012.
…talk _ CHICAGOISM: A CITY’S VISIONARY ARCHITECTURAL DREAMS AND NIGHTMARESRead More »
design _ VENICE BIENNALE EXHIBIT
Exhibition design for “City Works,” Venice Biennale, Italy, 2012.
…research/teaching _ CATALOG OF VISIONARY URBANISMS
Catalog of Visionary Urbanism is an ongoing project that collects, compares, and catalogues every important urban vision, from historical treatise to contemporary popular culture.
research/teaching _ CATALOG OF VISIONARY URBANISMSRead More »
essay _ THE CITY IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE CITY!
Review of Requiem: For the City at the End of the Millennium, by Sanford Kwinter, Journal of Architectural Education, #65:1 (December 2011): 96-97
…talk _ CHI·CA·GO·ISM (SHÏ-KÄ’GO´IZƏM) N. A STATE OR CONDITION OF A CITY AS A SITE OF EXPERIMENTATION, PRODUCER OF IDEAS, OR PROMOTER OF DREAMS
“CHI·CA·GO·ISM (SHÏ-KÄ’GO´IZƏM)” Public lecture at the Chicago Architecture Foundation, Chicago, November 2, 2011.
talk _ URBANISM AND OTHER URBAN PRACTICES
“Urbanisms and Other Urban Practices,” lecture at Symposium on Architectural and Urban History at the University of Illinois at Chicago (organized by Robert Bruegmann), October 28, 2011.
research/teaching _ REVIEW ON SEMINAR
Architect’s Newspaper and Chicago Plus review exhibition of Visionary Chicago and calling it “stimulating and provocative;” mounted at UIC’s Ramp Gallery, May – September, 2011.
…research/teaching _ ARCHITECTURAL VISIONS OF THE CITY
“Architectural Visions of Chicago” studies the vast amount of unbuilt, visionary architectural and urban project for the city.
…research/teaching _ ARCHITECTURAL VISIONS OF THE CITYRead More »
exhibit _ “VISIONARY CHICAGO I” AT UIC
Developed as part of the theory course “Architectural Visions of the City,” the exhibition recorded, compared, analyzed, and extrapolated Chicago’s architectural dreams and nightmares (UIC Architecture Ramp Gallery, April 28 – Sep 2, 2011).
…talk _ INFORMAL {=WITHOUT FORMAT} CITIES
“Informal {=Without Format} Cities,” lecture hosted by the Center for Architecture in Philadelphia, April 15, 2011.
talk _ THE PLEASURE OF SHOPPING AND OTHER MISDEEDS: WERTHEIM’S PANDEMONIUM OF TRAFFIC AND GOODS
“The Pleasure of Shopping and Other Misdeeds: Wertheim’s Pandemonium of Traffic and Goods,” lecture at Between Experience and Representation: Cities in an Area of Tension, international conference, Radboud University of Nijmegen, Holland, March 10, 2011 (presented in absence).
essay _ LECTURE CITATION
“Theorien der Raumanschauung und die Entstehung einer neuen Metropole,” was cited in Matthias Schirren’s article “Freiheit und Ordnung: Der Philharmonie Osteingang,” in Scharoun, exhibition catalog, 2011.
talk _ NEW RESEARCH
Round table participant on “New Research,” Northwestern University, Chicago, December 3, 2010 (other participants: Barry Bergdoll, Andreas Beyer, Neil Levine, Martin Bressani, Robert Bruegmann, and Harry Mallgrave; organized by David Van Zanten).
conference _ INFORMAL CITIES
“Informal Cities,” symposium in collaboration with and hosted by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, October 24, 2010.
…conference _ METROPOLIS
Panel chair at the ACSA West Central Fall Conference Flip your Field, University of Illinois at Chicago, October 21-23, 2010.
…talk _ STRANGER THAN FICTION
“Stranger Than Fiction,” lecture at the Once Upon a Place – International Conference on Architecture and Fiction, at the occasion of the Lisbon Triennial of Architecture, Lisbon, Portugal, October 12, 2010.
essay _ TUNING IN: WALTER BENJAMIN BROADCASTING THE CITY
Review of Radio Broadcasts, 1929-32, by Walter Benjamin, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Multimedia section, #69:2 (June 2010): 262-65.
…essay _ TUNING IN: WALTER BENJAMIN BROADCASTING THE CITYRead More »
talk _ THEORIEN DER RAUMANSCHAUUNG UND DIE ENTSTEHUNG EINER NEUEN METROPOLE
“Theorien der Raumanschauung und die Entstehung einer neuen Metropole,” lecture at the August Endell: Die Berliner Jahre, Freie Universität Berlin, Kunsthistorisches Institut, April 24, 2010. (cited in Matthias Schirren’s article “Freiheit und Ordnung: Der Philharmonie Osteingang,” Catalog on Scharoun’s Philharmonie, 2011).
conference _ CHICAGO IN THE WORLD
“Chicago in the World” session at the Annual SAH Meeting, co-chaired with Jonathan Mekinda Chicago, April 22, 2010 (speakers included Penelope Dean, John Harwood, Igor Marjanovic, and Joanna Merwood-Salisbury).
design _ Hotel Lab in Bangladesh
Design for a research laboratory and hotel, Sundarbans, Bangladesh, 2010.
…talk _ FORMS OF PRACTICE
“Forms of Practice,” lecture at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, on the work of Studio Offshore, July 7, 2009.
talk _ FROM URBAN FORMLESSNESS TO INFORMAL PRACTICES: BERLIN, TOKYO, LAGOS
“From Urban Formlessness to Informal Practices: Berlin, Tokyo, Lagos,” lecture at the Informal Cities Conference, Royal University College of Fine Arts Stockholm, Sweden, September 6, 2008.
book _ THE FORMLESS METROPOLIS (DISSERTATION)
talk _ SHOPPING FOR A METROPOLITAN ARCHITECTURE: EARLY COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS IN MODERN BERLIN
“Shopping for a Metropolitan Architecture: Early Commercial Buildings in Modern Berlin,” lecture at the SAH Annual Meeting (panel: The Limits of Community), Cincinnati, OH, April 24, 2008.
talk _ TRICKSTERS OF MODERNITY: AUTODIDACTIC APPROPRIATIONS IN ARCHITECTURAL VISIONS OF THE METROPOLIS
“Tricksters of Modernity: Autodidactic Appropriations in Architectural Visions of the Metropolis,” lecture at the SAH Annual Meeting (panel: Creative Misreading), Pittsburgh, PA, April 9, 2007.
essay _ VISUAL DISCOVERIES OF AN URBAN WANDERER
“Visual Discoveries of an Urban Wanderer: August Endell’s Perception of a Beautiful Metropolis,” Arq: Architectural Research Quarterly, #11:1 (March 2007): 71-80.
book _ CARTER MANNY AWARD FOR DISSERTATION
The Formless Metropolis and Its Potent Negativity (dissertation project) received the Graham Foundation Carter Manny Award Trustees’ Merit Citation, 2006.
talk _ ARCHITECTURE IN SEARCH FOR A LANGUAGE OF URBAN RESISTANCE
“Architecture in Search for a Language of Urban Resistance,” lecture at the Spiegel Symposium, structured around an exhibition of Barry Le Va, Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Philadelphia, PA, March 17-18, 2005 (speakers included David Lewis and Mark Wasiuta, moderated by Detlef Mertins; with keynote lectures by Greil Marcus and Barry Le Va).
essay _ EIN DORF, EIN ORT, EINE LANDSCHAFT
“Ein Dorf, Ein Ort, Eine Landschaft,” introduction for Ralf Schuhmann’s exhibition catalog Endstation Etzweiler (Bonn: Offener Atelier Katalog, 2004).
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