Chicago can’t let go; not of its widely celebrated architectural heritage, modern or otherwise; and not of its ugly and deeply entrenched history of racial segregation that governs its urban fabric.

Architecture biennials have traditionally sought to envision what the future might hold. Notably, since Fundamentals opened in Venice ten years ago, this parade of professional show ponies has given way to other biennial benchmarks of conceptual reframings of architecture at large. And Chicago could really use a reframing. 

This is a Rehearsal talks a big game: rehearsals as alternatives to manifestos, allowing “uncertainty, progress, failure, and redemption.” But upon entering this iteration immediately becomes mired in worn-out renditions of the city. A ranch house facade, chain links used by colonial surveyors, fallen monuments, props for insurrections all prepare the stage for a remake of America’s most painful historical moments. Mies’ Crown Hall continues to star as Chicago’s modernist boogeyman—it used to be a sinking Titanic, now it is a more literal casket. What will grow out of the ground that’s been fertilized by this 50-odd-year-old corpse, however, remains uncertain. The show expects everyone to bring their own script. 

Scaffolding as a signifier for “grassroots” or “vernacular” curatorial practices seems to be ubiquitous right now, from Venice to Chicago, in biennials and exhibitions. I even saw it in a student’s year-end-presentation of a mobile culture center recently. While some have recognized its modular potential to transcend a show’s venue, to scale institutional walls or float museum visitors on shaky catwalks, here, at the lavishly decorated Chicago Cultural Center, it becomes another layer of encrustation caked on top of the storied Art Deco backdrop.

Two years ago the Chicago Architecture Biennial told a story of the societal potential of the city’s vacant lots. Now, the agora for such rehearsals is built but the masses aren’t coming to the rescue. It seems that, at least for this biennial’s conceptual framework, the empty stage has become its own actor. 

tf.