DATES: September 18–November 11, 2023
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: This fall we are welcoming a team of four architects from a firm in Paris, France called ChartierDalix. The group will be conducting a research project focused on the development of ideas for transforming Chicago’s Loop from a predominantly business-oriented place to more of a neighborhood for all. Their work is being supported by a fellowship with the French government, but CAC is allowing them use of our Design Studio as a working office.
While in town, this team will also be contributing to the Chicago Architecture Biennial, and CAC has agreed to serve as a host site for their exhibition, which will open in our Usher-Lambe Rotating Gallery on November 1.
WHAT IS AN ARCHITECT-IN-RESIDENCE?: “Residency” is a term used to express an intense relationship between a guest designer and an institution for a set period of time, typically in the range of two to 16 weeks. Such relationships are set up in order to produce a collection of debates, workshops, research, or lectures on a topic or design process of mutual interest to both parties. Completed projects are typically presented in an informal critique or public program setting at the end of the residency period, with visitors and/or peer designers invited to see the proceedings.
WHY IS CAC DOING THIS?: The Content team continues to look with interest at several design issues bound up into the health of our city’s downtown. In working with ChartierDalix, we will be able to explore the topic with fresh eyes and look for takeaways to help inform some of our 2024 programming choices. In particular, these architects will be looking at (1) new futures for aging mid-century towers, (2) opportunities to make more spaces in the Loop publicly accessible, including potential design ideas for underused parking lots, office lobbies, and stretches of the underground pedway, and (3) new strategies and technologies for introducing more greenery to a dense, vertical urban form.
DESIGN STUDIO HOURS: The ChartierDalix team will be using the Design Studio most every day of the week from roughly 9am to 6pm. We will be issuing them name badges as well as keys and prox cards, so that they can easily be identified and so they can freely come and go in the Center and our 13th floor office just as if they were CAC employees.
PUBLIC PROGRAMS: All programs will be free and open to public visitors, with the exception of one lecture for the CAC Teen Fellows. In addition, we will be hosting open “office hours” during OHC weekend and the Chicago Marathon weekend, which will allow general audiences a chance to contribute their own ideas to some of the team’s research questions; we might issue more all-staff information about this activity, as it is new to CAC.
Also, please note that a new ChartierDalix publication will be available for purchase in the CAC Design Store.
EXHIBITION: While the Residency will generate lots of research, the team will ultimately winnow down their work to a compact public exhibit in the Usher-Lambe Rotating Gallery.
The ChartierDalix contribution to the upcoming Chicago Architecture Biennial will also be hosted as a companion exhibit within our same Rotating Gallery. The exhibition is being planned for a November 1, 2023 opening date and will run to February 4, 2024.
KEY CONTACTS: If you have any questions or concerns about the Residency, please reach out to Eve Fineman (ef******@ar**********.org) and Michael Wood (mw***@ar**********.org), as they are the primary staff contacts for this project.
ABOUT CHARTIERDALIX: Founded in Paris in 2008 by Frédéric Chartier and Pascale Dalix, this award-winning studio has successfully completed 20 built works with another 10 currently under construction. With about 85 employees and innovative commissions spanning all scales and building types, a reasonable Chicago analogue might be Studio Gang. Here’s how they describe their own work:
For ChartierDalix, architecture is conceived as a built system combining the means to welcome life, poetry, and the public commons. Whatever the purpose of the building we are designing, our main objective is to offer generous spaces, a distinct quality of life, and pleasurable places to be in. In our opinion, architecture is above all linked to the senses, to human activity, and to nature. We believe architecture must accompany society and participate in its evolution.Here are two relevant projects they are working on/have worked on in Paris that make them an interesting selection for exploring future possibilities for Chicago’s downtown.
Look Out For These Upcoming Public Programs….
Open Office Hours:
- Friday, October 6 (5:30pm-7:00pm)
- Saturday, October 7 (1:00pm-5:00pm)
- Sunday, October 8 (10:00am- 2:00pm)
- Friday, October 13 (5:30pm-8:00pm)
- Saturday, October 14 (1:00pm-5:00pm)
- Sunday, October 15 (10:00am-2:00pm)
Location: Design Studio at Chicago Architecture Center
Meet architects from ChartierDalix, a Paris-based design firm visiting Chicago to explore mid-century high-rise buildings and propose fresh ideas for repurposing them to support modern live/work purposes and generous public spaces. Your conversations with the architects will help inform and inspire them, and you could be quoted in their upcoming exhibition, opening this November at the CAC.
Reinventing the Loop
Town Hall Discussion with Chicago Designers and ChartierDalix
Tuesday, October 17 @ 6:00pm
90 mins
Location: Gand Lecture Hall at Chicago Architecture Center
CAC’s Architects-in-Residence present several speculative ideas for revitalizing Chicago’s iconic Loop and transforming it into a neighborhood all, then a panel of experts from Chicago’s design community responds. Audience will take in the professional exchange, then get their chance to join the conversation. Topics will cover public realm improvements, new ideas for aging buildings, and methods to invite nature into dense quarters.
Host: Frédéric Chartier, founder and principal, ChartierDalix
Panelists: TBA
Biennial Exhibition at CAC (Title TBA)
Wednesday, November 1 – February 4, 2024
Location: Usher-Lambe Rotating Gallery at Chicago Architecture Center
CAC’s Architects-in-Residence ChartierDalix present work from their Paris-based studio demonstrating strategies for hosting life in dense urban conditions. Projects include a school building and curriculum devoted to biodiversity, as well as a hospital that uses balconies and outdoor green space as a healing agent. Combined with the built work is a laboratory of speculative proposals to soften Chicago’s Loop, results from an eight-week residency spent at CAC this autumn. Exhibition includes photography, scale models, video, and text.
Note: See architecture.org for visitation hours
Be Generous Rather Than Generic: Book Launch with ChartierDalix
Guest lecture celebrating the trailblazing firm’s monograph, Built Work/Archives
Thursday, November 2 @ 3:30pm
60 mins
Location: Gand Lecture Hall at Chicago Architecture Center
ChartierDalix can look back on a successful first 12 years of design practice. They have garnered attention at numerous international competitions and collected several honors, including the Europe 40 under 40 Award. This two-volume set presents the studio’s entire body of work, with emphasis on designs they have realized in Paris and the surrounding area such as the transformation of the former Lourcine barracks into the new Université de Droit-Paris I as well as several schemes for private and social housing.
Note: Book available for purchase in CAC Design Store.
Lecturer: Frédéric Chartier, founder and principal, ChartierDalix
Host/Interviewer: Eleanor Esser Gorski, AIA, CEO and president, Chicago Architecture Center
Already There: IIT Landscape Architecture + Urbanism Graduate Studio
In collaboration with CAC Architects-in Residence, ChartierDalix, local students try their hand at design interventions to support the re-introduction of nature into the Loop.
Monday, November 6, 2023 @ 2:00pm
240 mins; drop-ins welcome during program
Location: Gand Lecture Hall at Chicago Architecture Center
During their visit to Chicago, ChartierDalix is serving as a guest lecturer at the Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture. One landscape studio and one high-rise building studio are coordinating efforts with ChartierDalix’s own research agenda pursued during their professional residency at the Chicago Architecture Center. This program serves as a mid-studio critique. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend.
Hosts:
Ron Henderson, Professor, IIT College of Architecture
Chris Groesbeck, Adjunct Professor, IIT College of Architecture