The Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB) won’t be the only show rolling into town this September. Just a few blocks away from the Biennial’s hub at the Chicago Cultural Center, the Unsolicited Sideshow will take over the lobby and mezzanine of the Chicago Athletic Association (CAA). Like sideshows of the past, the Unsolicited Sideshow will operate on the edge of the big show and will include a series of exhibitions and events that don’t quite align with the main stage.
The Unsolicited Sideshow will explore concepts of “otherness,” normalcy, and taboo, through the architectural mediums of form, program, materials, and affect. The ten contributors to the show will produce work to comment on contemporary culture and politics, and their relationship to contemporary architecture.
Contributors include:
Adrianne Joergensen (Singapore)
Architecture Hero (Chicago)
Chicago Underground Practice (Chicago)
Cosmo Design Factory (Philmont, New York)
Could Be Architecture (Chicago)
office ca (Columbus, Ohio)
John Clark (Chicago)
Office Andorus (Portland)
SUBSTUDIO (Detroit and Cincinnati)
Team B Architecture & Design (Cincinnati)
Throughout the exhibition, the Sideshow will also hold “Tank Takeovers,” events and performances held in the CAA’s former ground-floor pool. These monthly events will include DJs, additional architectural installations, and puppet shows, to name a few.
The exhibition is being curated by Joseph Altshuler and Zack Morrison of Could Be Architecture, Chelsea Ross, and will be designed by Matthew Harlan. The exhibition is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to produce the show.
The Unsolicited Sideshow will run from September 15th through October 16th at the Chicago Athletic Association.
