Contributions for this issue, by Paola Antonelli, Jessica Barrett Sattell, Busy Beaver Buttons Co., Justine Clark, Dgenerator, Neil Donnelly, Nathan Friedman, Fabrizio Gallanti, Iker Gil, Chris Grimley, Michael Kubo, Max Kuo, Ann Lui, Dennis Maher, Marina Otero Verzier, Mark Pasnik, Jason Pickleman, Zoë Ryan, Denise Scott Brown, Adrian Shaughnessy, Christina Shivers, Craig Shparago, The Architecture Lobby, Stanley Tigerman, and Mimi Zeiger.
CONSTRUCTIVE DEBATES
Issue statement by Iker Gil, editor in chief of MAS Context
After having been founded in 1885 as an architectural sketch club, the Chicago Architectural Club was reconstituted in 1979 and, with it came the legendary debates spearheaded by the then-president Stanley Tigerman. During the monthly meetings, two members would present and debate their work, with the audience casting their votes and deciding on the winner. Debates were fierce and personal, and both the winner and the loser received a diploma, which we assume the earlier displayed more proudly than the later.
The Chicago Architectural Club was composed of a limited number of members who paid high dues, bringing together (and reinforcing) the elite group of architects already practicing in the city. After Tigerman left, those debates started to disappear. Over three decades later, neither the architecture nor the city itself remains the same. The format of the debate is still relevant, but we wonder if we can expand these debates (in size and/or number) to be more inclusive in terms of participants, audience, and topics.
Chicago has missed (i.e. intentionally avoided) several opportunities to debate the fate of existing and proposed buildings, but the first Chicago Architecture Biennial is a step in the right direction. The public setting, the diversity of points of view and mediums of the projects exhibited, and the number and range of free public events offered express an interest in engaging in this city-wide conversation about the role of architecture in our cities. .../...
