The curatorial team of the XII São Paulo International Biennial of Architecture, comprising architects Vanessa Grossman, Charlotte Malterre-Barthes, and Ciro Miguel, has been named a recipient of the competitive 2019 Grants to Individuals from the prestigious, Chicago-based Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. The grant was awarded for the publication of the book Todo dia/ Everyday, the result of the work and research that culminated in the theme of the XII São Paulo International Biennial of Architecture. The bilingual volume will be published by Ruby Press, a Berlin-based publisher specializing in books on architecture, art, and other cultural practices engaged in the production of space in contemporary society.
The publication is among 63 projects selected worldwide by the Graham Foundation, representing diverse lines of research that, according to the jury, offer original ideas that contribute to our understanding of the built environment. Selected from over 500 proposals, the funded projects include not only publications but also exhibitions, films, and performances. The grant aims to foster rigorous scholarship, stimulate experimentation, and encourage critical discourse in architecture. According to the Graham Foundation, these innovative projects are led by both established and emerging architects, artists, curators, filmmakers, historians, and photographers, among other professionals.
The book Todo dia/ Everyday is premised on the idea that over the past decade, the potential of the everyday has influenced the practice and theory of architecture and urbanism, sparking a new ethic and aesthetic of simplicity. Rather than a sign of inaction or lack of agency, this approach is being developed by architects to make design a relevant and shared concern. The quiet power of the everyday lies in its ability to translate how we use materials, occupy, inhabit, and maintain space into common practices that are unifying rather than divisive. The daily routines of human beings—regardless of where they come from, who they are, or where and how they live—can be reduced to the fundamental needs addressed by architecture and embodied in space: a clean house, a warm meal, a bathroom with running water, a well-lit street.
Todo dia/ Everyday will present an in-depth analysis of this line of inquiry, re-establishing what seems to be the most trivial dimension of reality—the everyday—as an intrinsic mediator in the production of architecture and the city. The work aims to advance our thinking and understanding of architecture by mapping out a new cultural topography of contemporary practices and theories dealing with the everyday that significantly impact the discipline. The book will show how these practices and discourses seek to address upcoming 21st-century challenges, starting with major global transformations and the hurdles of an automated future. More information can be found on the project's page on the Graham Foundation website.
About the XII São Paulo International Biennial of Architecture
Titled Todo dia/ Everyday, the curatorial proposal by Vanessa Grossman, Ciro Miguel, and Charlotte Malterre-Barthes for the XII São Paulo International Biennial of Architecture (XII BIA) presents the everyday as a platform for researching architecture as a specialized activity of spatial production in the 21st century. From this perspective, the São Paulo Biennial provides the ideal context, given that in this city, the everyday is an agent capable of impacting and empowering architecture, for better or worse. The XII BIA will showcase national and international works representing this approach. The São Paulo International Biennial of Architecture is organized by the Institute of Architects of Brazil - São Paulo Department (IAB SP).
This article was written by Vanessa Grossman. The translation is powered by AI.
