Margaret McCurry Lectureship in the Design Arts

SHIFT: The GSD at the 6th Chicago Architecture Biennial 

An abstract graphic design featuring the word "SHIFT" in bold black letters, surrounded by colorful, fragmented shapes in shades of red, pink, yellow, green, blue, and orange. The letters and shapes are distorted and scattered, creating a dynamic, modern visual.
Event Location

Piper Auditorium

Date & Time
Free and open to the public
Event links
Host
Grace La
Moderator
Florencia Rodriguez
Panelists
Sean Canty
Iman Fayyad
Jenny French
Lap Chi Kwong
Alison Von Glinow
Abigail Chang
James Dallman
Alex Yueyan Li (MArch I AP ’21)
Oscar Zamora

LIVESTREAM INFO

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About this Event

In a dynamic, PechaKucha format, the GSD presents and celebrates a sampling of projects exhibited at the sixth edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB 6), which takes place on sites throughout Chicago from September 19, 2025, to February 28, 2026. The biennial theme, SHIFT: Architecture in Times of Radical Change, signals the opportunity to change direction—an invitation to think with others and to set new grounds for the interpretation and design of our built environment. Featuring over 100 projects by architects, artists, and designers from 30 countries, CAB 6 explores how architecture engages with the profound cultural, social, and environmental transformations shaping our world today, and considers possibilities for envisioning alternate paths forward.  

This event features presentations by several GSD-affiliated exhibitors—including Sean Canty, Abigail Chang, Iman Fayyad, Jenny and Anda French, Lap Chi Kwong and Alison Von Glinow, Grace La and James Dallman, Alex Yueyan Li, and Oscar Zamora—followed by a conversation about the biennial and its curatorial aims, moderated by the biennial’s artistic director Florencia Rodriquez. 

Moderator

Florencia Rodriguez Headshot

Florencia Rodriguez is the artistic director of the sixth edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial and founding principal of -NESS, an international cultural platform for architecture. As an editor, writer, and educator, she creates and leads initiatives related to architecture and design that span publishing, exhibitions, and consultancy, and her work is grounded in the belief that architecture is a vital cultural practice. Rodriguez is also associate professor at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Architecture (UIC/SoArch), where she was director between 2022 and 2025. Before coming to UlC, Rodriguez was a lecturer in architecture at the Harvard GSD. Rodriguez has received awards for her editorial work and guest-edited America, the 48th issue of the Harvard Design Magazine with Mark Lee. Her most recent book, MCHAP 2 Territory & Expeditions was published in 2022, by IITAC, Actar, and -NESS. Rodriguez is editing the book Machado Silvetti / Drawings 1975–1999, to be published by Harvard Design Press, and she is working on a collection of her writing to be published by Park Books.

Speakers

Sean Canty Headshot

Sean Canty is an associate professor of architecture at Harvard GSD and the founder of Studio Sean Canty, established in 2017. His practice introduces novel geometries and materials to enrich everyday spaces across residential, cultural, and public programs. His design approach is rooted in formal exploration, engaging contemporary typological and social questions with precision and openness. Canty’s work has been published in PIN-UP, MAS Context, Harvard Design Magazine, and Domus, and exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art and A83 Gallery, New York. He has lectured at institutions such as the University of Pennsylvania, UC Berkeley, and the University of Johannesburg. He holds a master of architecture from Harvard GSD and a bachelor of architecture from the California College of the Arts.

Abigail Chang Headshot

Abigail Chang is an artist, architect, and critic at Yale School of Architecture. Her multidisciplinary practice responds to contemporary culture through installations and objects that emphasize materials, subtle encounters, and perceptual framing. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Lisbon Triennale (2019), Seoul Biennale (2021), and the Design Museum of Chicago. Solo projects include Reflections of a Room at Volume Gallery and Display Window, a site-specific installation transforming a building façade into a visual stage. She received the Chicago Architectural Club’s Emerging Visions Award (2023) and research grants from the Graham Foundation and UIC. Her critical writing, including “Screen Time” and “Reflection: Literal and Phenomenal,” explores the intersection of art, architecture and technology.

Color headshot of Iman Fayyad.

Iman Fayyad is the founding director of project:if, a design and research practice based in Cambridge, MA, exploring geometry, material efficiency, and the politics of building. She is an assistant professor of architecture at Harvard GSD and a 2024 MacDowell Fellow. Her work has been published in the New York Times, Technology: Architecture and Design, Nexus Network Journal, Log, and The Avery Review, and exhibited at venues such as the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Roca Gallery in London. Her zero-waste construction research has received support from the MetLife Foundation, Architizer’s Design For Good Award, and the ACSA Faculty Design Award. Fayyad holds degrees from MIT and Harvard GSD and has previously taught at Syracuse, MIT, and Princeton.

Jenny French and Anda French of French2D

French 2D is a studio founded by Jenny French (MArch Harvard GSD, BA Dartmouth) and Anda French, AIA (MArch Princeton, BA Barnard). The practice focuses on uncommon housing types, as seen in their work on cohousing, compact living, and adaptive reuse. They also design civic installations and exhibitions that use the domestic to bring people together for familiar rituals in unfamiliar contexts—through furniture, textiles, and spatial environments. Notable projects include Bay State Cohousing in Boston, the Kendall Square Garage Screens in Cambridge, and the traveling Dinner Cozy series. The studio has received numerous recognitions, including a P/A Award and Architectural Record’s Design Vanguard. In 2024, they were nominated for the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize. Their work has appeared in Domus, AZURE, PLOT, Metropolis, Monocle, and the Architect’s Newspaper, and has been exhibited at MoMA, the Venice Biennale, and UMASS Amherst. Jenny is an assistant professor in practice at the Harvard GSD and Anda is a visiting lecturer at the Princeton SoA.

Lap Chi Kwong sits on a stool, wearing a white shirt and glasses. Alison Von Glinow stands next to him, gently resting her hand on his shoulder. She is dressed in a black jumpsuit. Both are looking ahead with neutral expressions, against a plain white background.

Kwong Von Glinow is an architecture practice founded in 2017 by Lap Chi Kwong and Alison Von Glinow. The studio transforms familiar elements into innovative yet accessible designs, spanning homes, cultural spaces, workplaces, and public environments. Notable works include a rooftop gallery addition for a Chicago greystone, a landmarked residential renovation in Highland Park, the renovation of the School of the Art Institute Flaxman Library, and the renovation of the Rice School of Architecture in Houston, TX. Their practice has earned recognition from the Rice Design Alliance, the Architectural League Prize, and the Graham Foundation, as well as multiple AIA awards. Their work combines conceptual ambition with broad public relevance.

Grace La and James Dallman

LA DALLMAN, led by Grace La and James Dallman, is a design practice investigating architecture as site transformation—recalibrating buildings, infrastructures, and landscapes. Based in Somerville, their work spans civic, residential, and public spaces. Honors include the AIA, BSA, and a Progressive Architecture Award, and they were the first U.S. recipients of the Rice Design Alliance Prize. Their projects have been exhibited widely, and featured in Architectural Record, Azure, and Praxis. Grace La chairs the Department of Architecture at Harvard GSD, underscoring the firm’s integration of academic and professional spheres. Their forthcoming monograph Middle Front will be published by Park Books.

11X17 headshot: Mahsa Malek and Alex Yueyan Li portraits side by side.

11 x 17 is a research-driven design practice founded in 2022 by Mahsa Malek and Alex Yueyan Li. The studio works across scales, producing exhibitions, installations, interiors, furniture, books, and buildings. A winner of the 2025 Architectural League Prize, 11 x 17 begins each project with a critical look at materiality—approaching construction as a conceptual tool to examine labor, form, and resources. Their speculative and built projects are both experientially rich and economically accessible, and have appeared in North America and China. Ongoing projects include a building about leanness and a book on the extended life of buildings. Their work has been featured in e-flux, Architectural Record, AZURE, and Archinect, and in institutions such as the Chicago Architecture Biennial and the Denver Art Museum.

Black and white headshot of Oscar Zamora

Oscar Zamora is a Nicaraguan architect whose work spans research, design, and pedagogy, with a focus on ecological and social resilience in Latin America. From 2014 to 2019, he co-led Valenzuela+Zamora, gaining international acclaim with projects like Folded Villa, awarded the CEMEX Regional Award. In 2017, Domus named him among Nicaragua’s top emerging architects. He has collaborated with the Inter-American Development Bank and contributed to projects on water, food, and urban futures in Colombia and the Amazon. Zamora holds a master in architecture with distinction from Harvard GSD and has been featured in Domus, L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui, and at international exhibitions such as the Biennale d’architecture et de paysage d’Île-de-France.

Harvard University welcomes individuals with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you would like to request accommodations or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact the Public Programs Office at (617) 496-2414 or [email protected] in advance of your participation or visit. Requests for American Sign Language interpreters and/or CART providers should be made at least two weeks in advance. Please note that the University will make every effort to secure services, but that services are subject to availability.

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