The Chicago Architecture Biennial and Mobile Makers Reveal One Bench, One Love, an Installation by the Biennial’s Youth Council, and Announce Open Call For Annual Youth Design Competition, with support from the Zell Family Foundation.
(Chicago, IL— Jan 9, 2024) —The Chicago Architecture Biennial is excited to announce key features of school and family programming for CAB 5: This is a Rehearsal. In partnership with Mobile Makers, CAB’s Official Education Partner, and through the generous support of the Zell Family Foundation, the youth-centric programs and curriculum resources will build on CAB’s Learning Initiatives program to prioritize active engagement toward a deeper understanding of the built environment through ‘rehearsal.’ Mobile Makers, led by director Maya Bird-Murphy, is a nonprofit organization that makes design education accessible to all people.
CAB’s Learning Initiatives program supports the development and participation of strong youth voices in critical conversations about how architecture and design shape our lives. Youth learning and engagement developed around CAB themes aim to facilitate meaningful and ongoing engagements, encourage connections between learners’ lived experiences and Biennial content, reach students from populations historically underrepresented in architecture, and provide opportunities for co-learning across generations and disciplines.
Engaging with young people, families, and teachers has been at the core of CAB’s mission since the Biennial’s inception. Through its Learning Initiatives program, CAB introduces learners of all ages in the fields of architecture and design through a community-specific curriculum, which fosters multidisciplinary and multi-generational engagement.
Above: Installation view of One Bench, One Love (2023) by the CAB Youth Council in the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) Learning Lab, in partnership with Mobile Makers and with support from the Zell Family Foundation. Photo: Nathan Keay/CAB.
Under the guidance of the Mobile Makers team, the CAB Youth Council, an advisory group of high school students interested in architecture and urbanism, participated in a three-month program, during which Youth Council members learned about CAB themes, public space and designed an installation, which is now on view at the Chicago Cultural Center in the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) Learning Lab. CAB’s Youth Council launched in 2021 during CAB 4: The Available City. Students focused on meeting and working with design professionals and city stakeholders while working on collaborative projects with real-world outcomes.
Titled One Bench, One Love, is a response to the lack of youth-oriented third spaces—places that aren’t school or home—and the policing of teens across Chicago. The students collaborated on designing the continuous, serpentine bench as a space-creating structure, which serves as a versatile hub for various activities—from casual hangouts to learning sessions and performances. Designed with flexibility in mind, it encourages visitors to craft their own unique experiences within the space and is on view throughout the duration of the Biennial.
From Maya Bird-Murphy: “Thanks to the partnership with the Chicago Architecture Biennial and DCASE, students were able to transform the Learning Lab into their own creation: an ideal third space for and by youth, where they were free to explore what architecture and public space can do for them. They went on to present their work to visitors, thus reiterating how important their voices are.”
Above: Installation view of One Bench, One Love (2023) by the CAB Youth Council in the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) Learning Lab, in partnership with Mobile Makers and with support from the Zell Family Foundation. Photo: Nathan Keay/CAB.
The program comprised a diverse group of eleven students between 14-18 years old who represented nine different high schools such as Walter Payton College Preparatory, Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, Lane Tech College Prep, George Westinghouse College Prep, Curie Metropolitan High School, and Chicago Tech Academy—from Archer Heights to Irving Park. Each participant received a stipend for their participation.
With a history of engaging over 37,000 young people in conversations about architecture and the city since 2015, CAB has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to meaningful community engagement. Throughout the program’s existence, the Zell Family Foundation has been a prominent and continuous supporter of it. For the last two editions of the Biennial, the Foundation has been the lead sponsor of the program, helping CAB solidify its dedication to empowering young voices and showcasing student visions for the future of Chicago and beyond.
“As an advocate for the arts, I am excited to invest in opportunities that invite youth to engage creatively with the built environment and view architecture and design as tools for change,” says Helen Zell, Executive Director of the Zell Family Foundation. “It is inspiring to see the new ideas that emerge from students through CAB’s Learning Initiatives programs each year.”
Above: Installation view of One Bench, One Love (2023) by the CAB Youth Council in the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) Learning Lab, in partnership with Mobile Makers and with support from the Zell Family Foundation. Photo: Nathan Keay/CAB.
This January, CAB, and Mobile Makers will additionally announce an open call for the Chicago Architecture Biennial’s annual youth design competition designed in partnership with Mobile Makers and standards-aligned curriculum resources for grades 2-12 that will provide both classroom teachers as well as out-of-school educators and caregivers with resources and activities to bring architecture and design learning to students. The toolkit will be supplemented by a series of facilitated teacher trainings. Click here to access toolkits from past CABs.
CAB’s Youth Council curriculum will be available to international communities online for free. The curriculum toolkit and educator resources are designed to help educators integrate architecture and design into the lived experiences of youth. These materials, aligned with curriculum standards and utilizing a STEM framework, will be available on the CAB website, expanding CAB’s reach beyond Chicago’s borders.
Above: Installation view of One Bench, One Love (2023) by the CAB Youth Council in the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) Learning Lab, in partnership with Mobile Makers and with support from the Zell Family Foundation. Photo: Nathan Keay/CAB.
ABOUT THE BIENNIAL: The Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB) is a non-profit organization dedicated to convening the world to explore innovative ideas and bring people together to collectively imagine and shape the future of design. CAB’s programs are committed to producing opportunities to explore and address timely global issues through the lens of architecture and design, emphasizing community input, sustainability, and equity. Free and open to the public, CAB stands as North America’s largest international survey of contemporary architecture and design.
