Curiosity, Criticism, and Cultural Liberation: Insights from Florencia Rodriguez
The 2025 Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB 6), set to run from September 12, 2025, to February 28, 2026, is poised to make a significant impact on the architectural landscape. Curated by Florencia Rodriguez, the first female Latin American director of the event, the theme of the edition is 'Shift: Architecture in Times of Radical Change'.
Rodriguez, with her unique perspective, aims to bring a fresh and inclusive approach to the Biennial, continuing its tradition as North America's largest contemporary architecture exhibition. The event invites participants and audiences to reflect on architecture's role in a world undergoing significant upheaval and transformation.
The CAB consists of a constellation of capsule exhibitions, each offering a unique perspective on the theme. 'Fragmented Manifestos', for instance, revisits radical change for the field of architecture, while 'Melting Solids' is inspired by Marshall Bergman's book All That is Solid Melts into Air, about the experience of modernity.
'The Ordinary Extra' explores new realism in architecture, focusing on layering, imagination, and finding magic in the everyday. 'Inhabit, Outhabit' focuses on collective housing and presents more than 30 case studies of ways of living from around the world. 'Ecologies' discusses ecosystems within the built environment and fabric, and 'Everything Chicago' is a capsule exhibition related to the city, its future, and its history.
Rodriguez emphasises the importance of inclusivity and critical dialogue in the biennial. She believes that architecture should be accessible to everyone and that fostering respectful dialogue, bringing difficult conversations to the forefront, and building collective understanding is crucial. The CAB will have a public program called 'We need to talk', providing a platform for such discussions.
Beyond the biennial, Rodriguez is interested in critique in architecture. She founded Plot, a journal on architecture based in Buenos Aires, fifteen years ago, and the CAB will also have a small publication program.
The current political climate in the US is causing concerns among professionals in the culture field about potential grant cuts and limited opportunities. However, Rodriguez remains optimistic, hoping the CAB will not be an echo chamber for the industry but a place where people can freely access and think together.
Curiosity is a key aspect of the CAB, as Rodriguez hopes the exhibitions will be provocative and communicate with everyone. The CAB's focus on addressing radical societal and environmental changes through architectural innovation and practice promises to make it an enlightening and thought-provoking event.
- In line with the 2025 Chicago Architecture Biennial's focus on addressing radical societal and environmental changes, Florencia Rodriguez, the first female Latin American director of the event, also prioritizes education and self-development by founding Plot, a journal on architecture in Buenos Aires.
- Beyond the architectural landscape, the CAB's public program, 'We need to talk', fosters critical dialogue on personal growth, politics, general news, and other topics that are crucial for building collective understanding.
- The 2025 Chicago Architecture Biennial, through its various capsule exhibitions like 'Fragmented Manifestos', 'Melting Solids', and 'Ecologies', aims to provoke curiosity and stimulate thought on lifestyle, home-and-garden, and alternative ways of living by exploring the role of architecture in a world undergoing significant transformation.
