Congratulations to Associate Professor and former Director of the Master of Architecture Program Robert Levit at the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design. He and his partner Rodolphe el-Khoury of Khoury Levit Fong (KLF) were selected as Official Participants at the upcoming 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB). KLF is the only firm from Canada to receive this distinction.

KLF’s exhibition, Typetopia, was designed by Levit and el-Khoury along with Daniels Master of Architecture graduate student Nick Reddon; research associate at the University of Miami, Chris Chung (MArch 2014); and recent graduate Dorsa Jalalian (MArch 2016).

The Biennial, which recognizes outstanding work in the field, is the “main stage” of contemporary architecture, unveiling avant-garde ideas, materials, technologies, and practices. It is where architects connect, collaborate, and engage the public while examining disciplinary issues and global concerns.

The first architecture biennial, took place in Venice in 1980. Twenty-five years after Venice, China launched the Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture in 2005 in Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Chicago is the third city in the world to host an Architecture Biennial that upholds the structure, programming, and international representation of the original Venice Biennale.

CAB’s 2017 theme, “Make New History” will focus on the relationship between art and architecture, history, and modernity, with the curatorial guidance of Los Angeles-based architects Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee of Johnston Marklee.

In 2015, more than 530,000 Chicago residents and visitors took part in CAB. It was the largest international exhibition of contemporary architecture ever held in North America, and featured the ideas of more than 100 architecture and design firms from 30 + countries. Based on the diverse selection of firms by CAB’s new artistic leadership team, the second edition is poised to build on the success of the first. The magnificent Chicago Cultural Center, operated by Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, will once again serve as the anchor of the exhibition, with additional sites across the city.  Through its constellation of exhibitions, full-scale installations, programming, and related events, the Chicago Architecture Biennial invites the public to engage with and think about architecture in new ways, in a global discussion on the future of the field. It will take place from September 16, 2017, to January 7, 2018.

For more info on KLF, go to: www.khourylevitfong.com and for the Chicago Architecture Biennial, go to: chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org. More information on KLF's exhibition at the Biennial is available at: http://chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org/participants/khoury-levit-fong/

Image, top & middle: Chicago Cultural Center (SUTTON), courtesy of the Chicago Architecture Biennial