2020

The Chicago Architecture Center looks forward to welcoming architecture lovers from across and beyond Chicago to enjoy an expanded Open House Chicago festival this October. The second-most widely attended event of its kind in the world, returning for a tenth consecutive year, Open House Chicago 2020 highlights architecturally, culturally and historically significant sites across “the city of neighborhoods,” with an intentional focus for 2020 on the city’s South and West Sides.

For almost two centuries, urbanization has been achieved by conquering land and using the natural environment as a disposable commodity. As a result, we have depleted our forests, wetlands, and soils. These effects have impacted the quality of life in urban areas, as well as the health of urban residents. And yet, the same pattern of development continues to be used, even as its negative consequences are amplified by climate change. Our forest conservation and restoration efforts, shaped by constant struggles against development, are reactive, opportunistic and ad-hoc rather than strategically planned.

Sheng-Yuan Huang is one of a kind in the architecture world. Indeed, even though he advocates for freedom in the process and shapes of architecture, he contained his work within a county of Taiwan. Here, during a process long 25 years, he has been able to build an urban sequence of public spaces and facilities that spans across more than one kilometer of urban and rural land.

Our Year of Gathering series has allowed us to explore the power of architecture and its role in how, when, and where we gather, inspired by our firm’s latest book. With Gathering we shared a new generation of larger-scale architecture where people gather to learn, work, meet, and play. Throughout 2020 we’ve explored these scales of architecture – how we, with our clients, developed transformational experiences and, then, what adaptations to consider as we work to stem the spread of COVID-19 and curtail gatherings for the time being. At the heart of all our conversations has been our shared sense of community.

The Dallas Architecture Forum, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing public education about architecture, landscape architecture, design and the urban environment, is pleased to present the celebrated architect Jason Long, on Tuesday, October 20, 2020 in a virtual lecture via Zoom.

The climate emergency is not just an energy or environmental issue. It is a health crisis, a humanitarian crisis, and an economic crisis. We know that energy-efficient buildings could simultaneously assist with reducing carbon emissions, provide a catalyst to boost jobs & training to build back a greener economy and provide healthy, comfortable indoor environments. In looking at how the UK can get to net zero, the National Grid state in their 2020 Future Energy Scenario Report “Energy efficiency is a no-regrets measure in all scenarios”. Passivhaus offers a robust ‘oven-ready’ solution to make both our existing and new buildings highly efficient.