Florencia Rodriguez–a writer, editor, and Director at the University of Illinois Chicago’s School of Architecture–will be the first Latina Artistic Director to helm the Chicago Architectural Biennial.
Rodriguez is the Director and Associate Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago’s School of Architecture (UIC/SoArch). Though she has mainly been an editor, writer, and educator, she has built a path driven by a strong entrepreneurial spirit that has led her to create and run cultural initiatives related to architecture and design.
Along with her work as a professor, Rodriguez has edited books and organized events committed to disseminating new narratives, exploring alternative forms of design criticism, and discussing the contemporary role of design.
She has also advocated including more diverse cultural perspectives through lectures, symposia, and publications. Additionally, she has sought to pull the University of Illinois Chicago’s School of Architecture into broader conversations occurring in society today.
Rodriguez has received several awards for her editorial work and published several articles in books and specialized media such as Domus, Oris, summa+, Arquine, A+U, and Uncube.
About the 6th CAB
The 6th Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB) is themed “Shift: Architecture in Times of Radical Change.” With an emphasis on the cultural influences that shape design, including the need to reconsider collective housing, material culture, ecologies, and the effects of migration on cities, the event will be a broad and multifaceted exploration of the field of architecture.
The goal of the 6th CAB is to tackle the most critical problems of our day, with new and commissioned projects setting a newfound course for modern design.
The Chicago Architecture Biennial is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring innovative ideas and bringing people together to imagine and shape the future of design. CAB’s programs are committed to producing opportunities to address timely issues through the lens of the architecture of design and community input, sustainability, and equity.
Past CAB events
The Chicago Architecture Biennial produces the largest exhibition of contemporary architecture in North America every two years. Over the past ten years, it has also supported an international Chicago forum on architecture and urbanism.
Each CAB event centers around a theme that explores how issues are addressed differently through art, architecture, infrastructure, and civic participation. The 2023-2024 CAB 5 theme, “This is a Rehearsal,” explored how contemporary, environmental, political, and economic issues are shared across national boundaries but addressed differently worldwide.
CAB 4, The Available City, took place in 2021 and explored the impact of collective space in cities today. CAB 3 and other such stories took place in 2019 and examined the close readings of the spatial realities of its host city and the concurrent exploitation of bodies, labor, and nature.
The first CAB event stretches back to 2015.
A Community Event to Inspire
While architects, artists, and designers have made over 400 original projects from almost 50 countries, the exhibitions and public programs have introduced more than 2.2 million visitors to advanced concepts.
CAB, one of the world’s most open and accessible architectural events, has established a forum for ideas and is beginning a new decade of expansion and
initiatives.
CAB 6 will be open to the public and on view from September 12, 2025, through February 28, 2026. The venue for the Biennial will again be the Chicago Cultural Center, located in downtown Chicago. The main exhibition and hub will be housed in the historic Chicago Cultural Center, the City of Chicago Department of Culture and Special Events (DCASE) headquarters, which is part of the Millenium Park Campus in downtown Chicago.
