SHIFT: TRACES by Balsa Crosetto Piazzi and Giorgis Ortiz
About the program
Led by Artistic Director Florencia Rodriguez, SHIFT: Architecture in Times of Radical Change signals the opportunity and need to change direction—an invitation to think with others and to set new grounds for the interpretation and design of our built environments.
On the grounds of Jackson Park, site of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, TRACES is a site-specific installation of 10,000 dry-stacked bricks tracing the footprint of the Fair’s temporary Great Buildings. The work invites reflection on the Fair’s ambition and theatrical design, creating spaces without walls and mass without permanence. After the Biennial, the bricks will be reused, leaving no waste—only the memory of the experience.
Venue
View moreGriffin Museum of Science and Industry
Address
5700 S. DuSable Lake Shore Dr., Chicago, IL 60637
Description
Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry (Griffin MSI) offers world-class and uniquely interactive experiences that support the Museum’s mission: to inspire the inventive genius in everyone. As one of the largest science museums in the world featuring award-winning exhibits and hands-on activities, a visit to Griffin MSI is guaranteed to connect fun and learning. Griffin MSI is committed to offering comprehensive educational programs for students, administrators, teachers and families that make a difference in local communities and contribute to Griffin MSI’s goal to transform and illuminate STE(A)M (science, technology, engineering, art and math) pathways for people of all ages. The Museum is grateful for the support of its generous donors and guests who make its work possible. Griffin MSI is also supported in part by the people of Chicago through the Chicago Park District. For more information, visit msichicago.org or call (773) 684-1414.
Participant
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Balsa Crosetto Piazzi and Giorgis Ortiz
Córdoba, Argentina, Boston and New York, United States
WebsiteBALSA CROSETTO PIAZZI and GIORGIS ORTIZ are two independent architecture studios. They have collaborated on projects within the United States, a shared territory where both studios are based.
Founded in 2015 by Juan Manuel Balsa, Rocío Crosetto Brizzio, and Leandro Piazzi, BALSA CROSETTO PIAZZI centers on architecture’s material realm and its capacity to reshape reality through building. Each commission is treated as a platform to rethink the cycles of materials, people, ecologies, knowledge, and resources while working on architecture projects that search for radical geometries and abstraction. Their work has received the Architectural League Prize for Young Architects & Designers (2025) and been shortlisted for the Lisbon Triennale Debut Award. They represented Argentina at BAL 2025 and won competitions for Banco Nacion’s restoration and Plaza Manuel Belgrano in Córdoba. Their work has been shown at the Venice Biennale (2023, 2025) and BIAU. The partners have taught at MIT, Columbia GSAPP, RISD, and other leading institutions across the Americas and Europe.
GIORGIS ORTIZ is a collaboration between Adriana Giorgis and Evan Ortiz. Together, they explore what it means to be true to place, working to create spaces that instill a sense of wonder.
Together, both studios have designed and built 12 Rooms (2025), a large-scale installation at the MIT campus.
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