Chicago Architecture Biennial Opens 65,000-Square-Foot Public Exhibition Space on the Magnificent Mile
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Chicago Architecture Biennial Opens 65,000-Square-Foot Public Exhibition Space on the Magnificent Mile
Fifth Biennial Site—at 840 N. Michigan Avenue—Debuts November 7 with 30+ Installations Exploring Architecture’s Role in Interconnected Ecologies
Opening Weekend Events November 7-9 Include Panels, Workshops, and Performances – All Free and Open to the Public
CHICAGO — The 2025 Chicago Architecture Biennial will open its newest exhibition site at 840 N. Michigan Avenue on Friday, November 7, marking a major moment in the Biennial’s 10th anniversary edition, SHIFT: Architecture in Times of Radical Change. The 65,000-square-foot space—spanning four floors on one of Chicago’s most iconic intersections—has been transformed into a cultural destination for the public featuring more than 30 installations from architects, artists, and studios from around the world. The site is free and open to the public.
Presented in partnership with Acadia Realty Trust and Parkside Realty, the 840 N. Michigan site expands the Biennial’s citywide presence and demonstrates how design can activate unexpected urban spaces. The new venue showcases works that reflect the SHIFT theme, as well as the thematic capsule Ecologies, which explores architecture’s relationship to the systems that sustain and challenge life on our planet—climate, technology, food, and the human body.
“With 840 N. Michigan, we’re bringing the Biennial’s global conversation into the heart of Chicago’s commercial corridor,” said Florencia Rodriguez, Artistic Director of the 2025 Chicago Architecture Biennial. “This site transforms a retail landmark into a place for curiosity and creative engagement—an urban laboratory for how architecture can respond to the conditions of our time.”
Participating studios include:
For a complete list of projects on display with descriptions, see press kit.
322A
Alfredo Thiermann with Pedro Correa, Ella
Neumaier, and Xavier Nueno
alsar-atelier
BairBalliet
Besler & Sons
Blanco, Estudio Jochamowitz Rivera, and
Ghezzi Novak with LIGA, Space for
Architecture
C+ arquitectas
CLUAA
Estudio Flume
Estudio Planta
gt2P
Ibañez Kim
Ivan L. Munuera and TAKK (Mireia
Luzárraga and Alejandro Muiño)
Johnston Marklee
Juan Du
La Cabina de la Curiosidad
Laboratory of Intersectional Ecologies /
Alejandro Haiek Coll, Lolo Rebecca Rudolph
Luftwerk
Natura Futura
Oshinowo Studio
Parsons & Charlesworth
Stewart Hicks
STOSS Landscape Urbanism + MPdL Studio with Mark Lamster
Studio Urbane Strategien
Sungjang
The Bittertang Farm
Tonika Lewis Johnson and Amanda
Williams in Collaboration
UNA/Unless
Worofila
Their installations invite visitors to experience the multiple scales and materials of architecture’s ecological entanglements—from urban infrastructure and environmental resilience to sensory design and community imagination.
Opening Weekend events are free and open to the public:
**Events will take place at 840 North Michigan Avenue unless otherwise noted
Ecologies Symposium – Free Registration
Friday, November 7 | 1:30 – 5:30 pm
A half-day program accompanying the Ecologies capsule exhibition. Artists, designers, scientists, and thinkers will explore architecture’s role within the complex systems—natural, artificial, human, and nonhuman—that shape how we live and adapt in a changing world.
氣 : Performance by Irene Hsiao with Dominic Kießling’s “Blob” – Free Registration
Friday, November 7 | 7 – 8 pm
**Driehaus Museum, 50 E. Erie St, Chicago
After selling out its debut performance, Chicago-based movement artist Irene Hsiao will once again bring SHIFT participant Dominic Kießling’s monumental floating “Blob” to life.
Air Ecologies Closed Jar Terrarium Workshop – Free Registration
Friday, November 7 | 10 am – 12 pm
**Wild Mile, 905 W. Eastman St, Chicago
In this hands-on workshop, participants will create closed-jar terrariums as living micro-ecosystems. Rethink architecture through the lens of natural, enclosed, and self-sustaining systems where design and organic life converge.
Discotecture Panel Discussion – Free Registration
Saturday, November 8 | 1:30 – 3 pm
Designers TAKK (Mireia Luzárraga & Alejandro Muiño) and Ivan L. Munuera explore how nightclub architecture shapes culture, society and space.
New York Review of Architecture Criticism Panel – Free Registration
Saturday, November 8 | 3 – 4 pm
Writers Douglas Spencer and Kate Wagner will explore the importance of architectural critique in our shifting built-environment and cultural landscape. Organized by the New York Review of Architecture and the Chicago Review of Architecture, this panel challenges us to reconsider how architecture shapes everyday life and our future.
Living Histories: Space for Reckoning – Free Registration
Saturday, November 8 | 4 – 5 pm
Reflection and conversation about how spaces carry histories of displacement, labor and care, and how we might imagine architectures of reckoning and repair. Architecture critic Mark Lamster, landscape architect Chris Reed, and architect Mónica Ponce de León will center this conversation around a proposal for downtown Dallas, Texas.
Living With…The Existing – Free Registration
Sunday, November 9 | 3 – 5 pm
This panel explores how architecture can renew what already exists—rather than demolish it—giving new purpose to buildings and environments once deemed obsolete. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Living With, sponsored by Saint-Gobain and Villa Albertine, the French Institute for Culture and Education.
“This partnership shows the power of adaptive reuse to reimagine Chicago’s commercial and urban spaces,” said Phil Clement, President & CEO, World Business Chicago. “Transforming a high-profile retail site into a hub for creativity and connection demonstrates how cross-sector collaboration can spark new energy, unlock opportunity, and inspire Chicagoans to see what’s possible when we think differently about our city’s future.”
“840 North Michigan Avenue provides a perfect, high-traffic setting for the Chicago Architecture Biennial’s fifth site, as it sits at one of the most iconic intersections in the city: directly across from the world-famous architecture of the John Hancock Building and Fourth Presbyterian Church, and just steps from Chicago’s Water Tower monument,” said Bob Wislow, Founder and CEO of Parkside Realty, Inc. “Bringing the Biennial to this space adds to the energy and excitement of Michigan Avenue, demonstrating creativity and collaboration in our city’s most celebrated destinations.”
“We’re thrilled to welcome the Chicago Architecture Biennial to the Magnificent Mile,” said Kimberly Bares, CEO of The Magnificent Mile Association. “Bringing this level of creativity and global perspective to one of Chicago’s most recognized destinations highlights the vibrancy and cultural momentum of Michigan Avenue today.”
Public Hours: 840 N. Michigan Avenue will be open to the public starting Friday, November 7. Ongoing public hours will be Wednesday–Sunday, 12–6 p.m., with extended hours on Thursdays until 8 p.m. Admission is free and open to all. The exhibition space runs through January 31, 2026.
The new site joins four other anchor locations—the Chicago Cultural Center, Graham Foundation, Stony Island Arts Bank, and Griffin Museum of Science and Industry—along with dozens of partner sites across the region, continuing the Biennial’s mission to make architecture accessible and relevant to diverse audiences.
A full calendar of events and list of participating artists and partners is available at chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org.
A comprehensive list of SHIFT participants, projects, and sites is available via The Bloomberg Connects digital guide, made possible through the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies, available as an appendix, and on chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org.
About the Chicago Architecture Biennial
The Chicago Architecture Biennial convenes the world to explore innovative ideas and collectively imagine the future of design. The Biennial’s large-scale exhibitions, talks, performances, films, and other events, create opportunities to engage timely global issues through the lens of architecture and design, emphasizing creativity and community participation. Free and open to the public, the Chicago Architecture Biennial stands as North America’s largest international survey of contemporary architecture and design.
Founded in the city that gave birth to the skyscraper and continues to shape the global language of architecture, the Chicago Architecture Biennial celebrates Chicago’s unmatched legacy while boldly projecting its future. The Biennial emerged from the City of Chicago’s 2012 Cultural Plan, which envisioned a platform to highlight the city’s cultural leadership. In collaboration with the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and the Graham Foundation, the Chicago Architecture Biennial launched its inaugural edition in 2015.
Since 2015, the Chicago Architecture Biennial has produced five editions that featured more than 400 projects from 40 countries and welcomed over 2.2 million visitors to exhibitions and public programs across Chicago. From Sullivan and Wright to today’s most daring spatial thinkers, the Biennial reaffirms Chicago’s role as a crucible for radical ideas and inclusive design.
Lead support for the Chicago Architecture Biennial is provided by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Good Chaos, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Amrize, Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Chicago Free for All Fund, the Polk Bros. Foundation, and Illinois Arts Council.
Principal support for Learning programs is provided by the Zell Family Foundation. Additional support by the Crown Family Philanthropies.
Generous support is provided by the MacArthur Foundation, Cari and Michael J. Sacks, Donald R. Wilson Jr. Family Foundation, the Poetry Foundation, Manasi and Dave Cocagne, Anne L. Kaplan, Sandra and Jack Guthman, Donna C. King Estate, Robert R. McCormick Foundation, Mansueto Foundation, Pritzker Traubert Foundation, Susan and Bob Wislow, Rooney Family/R4 Services, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, Builtworlds, Goldman Sachs, Dedrea and Paul Gray, Lefkofsky Family Foundation, Neisser Family Foundation, Related Midwest, Segal Family Foundation, Thornton Tomasetti, Steve and Cindy Cruise, Helyn Goldenberg, Gray Capital Partners, Guggenheim Securities, Scan Design Foundation, Wintrust and the Carpenters Workshop Gallery.
SHIFT site partners generously provide their space, including the Acadia Realty Trust, Parkside Realty, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, Millennium Park Foundation, and the Rebuild Foundation.
The Bloomberg Connects digital experience is made possible through the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Southwest Airlines is the Official Airline of the Chicago Architecture Biennial.
Media Partners include Architectural Record, Dezeen, New York Review of Architecture, STIR, and Untapped.
Learn more at chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org.
About 840 N. MICHIGAN
840 N. Michigan, owned by Acadia Realty Trust, is a purpose built, multi-story, retail building located at the south west corner of the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Chestnut Street in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood. Surrounded by and walking distance from Chicago’s most important high end hotels, retailers and residential buildings, 840 overlooks the world famous John Hancock Building and is just a half block walk from Chicago’s historic Water Tower monument, the most famous survivor of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. 840’s five floors provide over 87,000 square feet of high end retail space with ceiling heights ranging from 16’ to 22’ with large, open floor plates with over 300 feet of Michigan Avenue and Chestnut Street store front. For further information, click here.
About Acadia Realty Trust
Acadia Realty Trust is an equity real estate investment trust focused on delivering long-term, profitable growth. Acadia owns and operates a high-quality core real estate portfolio (“REIT Portfolio”) of street and open-air retail properties in the nation’s most dynamic retail corridors, along with an investment management platform that targets opportunistic and value-add investments through its institutional co-investment vehicles (“Investment Management”). For further information, please visit www.acadiarealty.com.
