Besler & Sons
Hopewell, United States
Founded by Erin Besler and Ian Besler, Besler & Sons is a multidisciplinary studio working across architecture, media, and design tools. Their projects engage amateur creators, construction trades, and software, fostering new platforms for public participation. Their work has been exhibited at the Venice Biennale, Shenzhen Biennale, and MODEL Barcelona. Erin, assistant professor at Princeton, explores construction and content sharing as collective acts, and was awarded the Rome Prize and recognized by the Architectural League of New York. Ian, assistant professor at Roger Williams University, works across communication, interaction design, and media. Besler & Sons blur boundaries between creators, users, and technologies in shaping built environments.
2025 Biennial Project
Project Overview
Shared Resource
Designed for assembly, disassembly, and reuse, Shared Resource is a temporary timber-frame installation that invites public participation through reconfiguration workshops and an interactive app. The structure explores how architecture can move, shift, and evolve—focusing on process over permanence. Inspired by rural building traditions rooted in cooperation, the project values redistribution over accumulation. By blurring boundaries between architecture, building, and participation, Shared Resource reframes the construction site as a space of collective authorship. It invites visitors to shape, dismantle, and reimagine architecture not as a finished product, but as an open system of exchange.
Venue
View more840 N. Michigan Ave
Address
840 N. Michigan Ave
Description
The Biennial expands its footprint downtown with the opening of its fifth site at 840 N. Michigan Avenue, transforming more than 65,000 square feet of space on the Magnificent Mile into a dynamic hub for art, design, and dialogue.
