U.S. Pavilion curators select exhibitors for Venice Architecture Biennale

The U.S. Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale, titled Dimensions of Citizenship, is further taking shape: the curatorial team — announced just two weeks ago and comprised of Mimi Zeiger, Niall Atkinson, and Ann Lui — has revealed a line-up of seven pavilion exhibitors:

Amanda Williams & Andres L. Hernandez 
Chicago, IL

Design Earth 
Cambridge, MA

Diller Scofidio + Renfro 
New York, NY

Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman
San Diego, CA

Keller Easterling
New Haven, CT

SCAPE 
New York, NY

Studio Gang 
Chicago, IL

"These seven teams represent the breadth of design practice today," the curators said in a statement, "from social to speculative; technical to theoretical. They are united by researched-based methodologies and the drive to use that research to push boundaries — formal, disciplinary, and political."

More participants, whose body of existing projects will be placed in dialogue with the contributions of the seven teams listed above, are expected to be announced at a later date.

Also announced was the appointment of architect Iker Gil as associate curator. Gil is Director of MAS Studio, founder of the design journal MAS Context, and faculty member at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago — one of the two institutions appointed by the U.S. State Department Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs as co-commissioners of the 2018 U.S. Pavilion, alongside the University of Chicago. 

The ten members of the recently created curatorial advisory board — architects, designers, and artists selected to support the curators and help turn Dimensions of Citizenship into a reality — are:

• Bill Brown, Senior Advisor to the Provost for Arts, Karla Scherer Distinguished Service Professor in American Culture in the Departments of English & Visual Arts, and the College, UChicago
• Theaster Gates, Professor in the Department of Visual Arts and the College, and Director of Arts + Public Life, UChicago
• Sarah Herda, Director, Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts
• Mary Jane Jacob, Professor, Executive Director of Exhibitions and Exhibitions Studies, SAIC
• Oliver Palmer, independent artist and designer  
• Zoë Ryan, John H. Bryan Chair and Curator of Architecture and Design, Art Institute of Chicago
• Jonathan Solomon, Director, Department of Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects, SAIC
• Jessica Stockholder, Chair of the Department of Visual Arts and Raymond W. & Martha Hilpert Gruner Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Visual Arts and the College, UChicago
• Amy Thomas, Assistant Professor of Architectural History and Urban Planning, TU Delft
• Yesomi Umolu, Exhibitions Curator at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts and Lecturer in the Humanities Division, UChicago

For the challenge of creating the exhibition, graphic, and web design for the U.S. Pavilion, the curators selected studio Project Projects.