Chicago and Urbana, United States
Website Could Be Design creates seriously playful spaces that foster participation, companionship, and solidarity across communities. Directed by Joseph Altshuler and Zack Morrison, the practice imagines the built environment as an animate being with agency. From exuberant interiors to interactive public spaces, their work positions architecture as an active character, expressed through vibrant colour, shapely form, and intimate encounters. Could Be Design is a curatorial partner for the 2024–25 cycle of Exhibit Columbus and Artistic Director of the Chicago Sukkah Design Festival, a community-driven public art and architecture exhibition in North Lawndale. Their work has been featured in Exhibit Columbus, This is a Rehearsal (Chicago Architecture Biennial), Miami Art Week, Milwaukee Art Museum, and Elmhurst Art Museum. They received the 2024 Roberta Feldman Architecture for Social Justice Award (AIA Chicago Foundation) and the 2023 Architectural League Prize (The Architectural League of New York). Altshuler teaches at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Morrison is a frequent guest critic at schools across the Midwest.
