The Graham Foundation has announced the list of recipients of their annual Grants to Organizations program, established to “advance new scholarship, fuel creative experimentation and critical dialogue, and expand opportunities for public engagement with architecture and its role in contemporary society.”
For 2017, over $400,000 USD has been awarded to 41 projects from around the world within 5 categories: Exhibitions, Film/Video/New Media, Publications, Public Programs and Other Fellowships. In its 61 year history, the Graham Foundation has given more than 4,300 grants to individuals and institutions.
“This year marks an extraordinary group of projects from organizations around the world working to advance architectural thinking, push the boundaries of the field, and expand into previously underrepresented areas,” said Graham Foundation director Sarah Herda on the 2017 grantees.
Continue reading for the full list of recipients, with descriptions provided by the Graham Foundation.
Exhibitions (14 awards)
THE COOPER UNION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE AND ART-IRWIN S. CHANIN SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
New York, NY
Archive and Artifact: The Virtual and the Physical
To celebrate 50 years of architectural education through the lens of leading studio thesis work, a selection will be on display and made available through the launch of a new online digital database. The exhibit chronicles an historic half century of architecture themes and typologies from 1966 to 2016 exemplified by the formative student work of prominent Cooper Union graduates, such as Daniel Liebeskind, Toshiko Mori, Stan Allen, and Elizabeth Diller.
HERITAGE FUND-THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF BARTHOLOMEW COUNTYLANDMARK COLUMBUS
Columbus, IN
Exhibit Columbus
This annual exploration of architecture, art, design, and community alternates programming between symposium and exhibition years, with the inaugural exhibition occuring in fall 2017. Featuring more than 15 temporary architecture, art, design, and site-responsive installations, the project will engage in critical dialogue with the design heritage of Columbus and programs for the community.
LIVERPOOL BIENNIAL OF CONTEMPORARY ART
Liverpool, United Kingdom
Liverpool Folly
This urban folly by a leading artist marks the 10th edition of the Liverpool Biennial and 20 years of commissioning international artists to make work that celebrates and critically engages with the city of Liverpool.
Gwyneth Shanks, From Above Looking Down, 2017, Los Angeles. Courtesy the artist. From the 2017 organizational grant to Materials & Applications for "Privacies Infrastructure". Image courtesy of The Graham Foundation
MATERIALS & APPLICATIONS
Los Angeles, CA
Privacies Infrastructure
A presentation of newly commissioned work by four artists and designers (Besler & Sons, Tanya Brodsky, Fiona Connor, and Gwyneth Shanks) that explores the social, physical, and embodied forms of private property in Los Angeles’s residential landscape.
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
New York, NY
The Architecture of Socialist Yugoslavia, 1945–1991
This major exhibition will be the first in the United States to examine the modernist architecture of Yugoslavia, introducing the exceptional built work of the former country’s leading architects to an international audience.
helloeverything/SelgasCano, Kibera Hamlets School, 2016, Nairobi, Kenya. Courtesy of architects. From the 2017 organizational grant to New York Foundation for Architecture-Center for Architecture for "Scaffolding". Image courtesy of The Graham Foundation
NEW YORK FOUNDATION FOR ARCHITECTURE-CENTER FOR ARCHITECTURE FOUNDATION
New York, NY
Scaffolding
This exhibition explores the history of this flexible kit-of-parts system, scaffolding, and its unique capacity to empower designers and non-architects alike with a potent tool for redefining space through collaborative initiative.
Roundhouse, DuSable Museum of African American History, 2017, Chicago. Photo: Assaf Evron. From the 2017 organizational grant to Palais de Tokyo for "Singing Stones". Image courtesy of The Graham Foundation
PALAIS DE TOKYO
Paris, France
Singing Stones (Roundhouse, DuSable Museum of African American History, Chicago, IL)
Presented within the singular architecture of Burnham and Root’s Roundhouse at the DuSable Museum of African American History, this first US-based off-site exhibition organized by Palais de Tokyo in partnership with Institut Français and EXPO CHICAGO, showcases emerging artists from both France and Chicago, exploring the dialogue between contemporary art and architecture.
QUEENS MUSEUM
Queens, NY
Mel Chin: All Over the Place (Queens Museum and Times Square, NY)
A comprehensive survey of conceptual artist Mel Chin’s work, this exhibition will include two new major commissions that spotlight his ongoing investigation into how power structures embedded in our built and lived environments can enact devastating tolls on vulnerable populations.
Richard Rezac, Quimby (painted steel, plate glass, enameled plate glass, and cherry wood), 2017, Chicago. Courtesy of the artist. From the 2017 organizational grant to The Renaissance Society for "Richard Rezac: Address". Image courtesy of The Graham Foundation
THE RENAISSANCE SOCIETY
Chicago, IL
Richard Rezac: Address
An exhibition of old and new works by Chicago-based sculptor Richard Rezac offers the chance to reflect on his ongoing contributions to the history of art in Chicago and the eclectic range of references that have informed his last decade of production.
S AM SWISS ARCHITECTURE MUSEUM
Basel, Switzerland
Bengal Stream: The Vibrant Architecture Scene of Bangladesh
The first international exhibition on contemporary Bangladeshi architecture, curated by Niklaus Graber, Andreas Ruby, and Viviane Ehrensberger, provides an understanding of the cultural origins of the local architecture, focusing primarily on the country’s contemporary architecture scene influenced strongly by Muzharul Islam and Louis I. Kahn.
Francis Kéré, Serpentine Pavilion, 2017, London. Photo: Iwan Baan. From the 2017 organizational grant to Serpentine Galleries for “Serpentine Pavilion 2017 by Francis Kéré”. Image courtesy of The Graham Foundation
SERPENTINE GALLERIES
London, United Kingdom
Serpentine Pavilion 2017 by Francis Kéré
Inspired by the tree that serves as a central meeting point for life in Gando, Burkino Faso, Francis Kéré has designed a pavilion that seeks to connect visitors to nature—and to each other.
SOCRATES SCULPTURE PARK
Long Island City, NY
Folly/Function 2018
An ongoing collaboration with The Architectural League of New York, this open design/build competition annually awards architects and designers the opportunity to realize a fullscale project outdoors. Exploring the intersection of architecture and sculpture, the program challenges entrants to address park functions through design.
STOREFRONT FOR ART AND ARCHITECTURE
New York, NY
Marching On: The Politics of Performance
Curated by architectural designer and scholar Bryony Roberts, this exhibition explores marching performances as mediums for communicating cultural identity and political resistance, specifically examining the role of marching bands and drum lines within African American communities in asserting both visibility and equal rights.
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO-REVA AND DAVID LOGAN CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Chicago, IL
Cinthia Marcelle & Tiago Mata Machado: Divine Violence
Featuring the Brazilian artist Cinthia Marcelle, this exhibition will bring together for the first time three films created by the artist in partnership with film critic, curator, and filmmaker Tiago Mata Machado.
Film/Video/New Media (2 awards)
THE ARCHITECTURAL LEAGUE OF NEW YORK
New York, NY
The Location of Justice
A yearlong series of features on Urban Omnibus, the Architectural League’s online magazine, will focus on examining the physical dimensions of the criminal justice system, the spaces it occupies and transforms, and its role as a critical piece of urban infrastructure.
CHICAGO ARCHITECTURAL CLUB
Chicago, IL
TIGERman
Through On the Table, a new short documentary series exploring stories of its cultural citizens, the inaugural film, TIGERman tells the story of architect Stanley Tigerman, and celebrates the 130th anniversary of the Chicago Architectural Club.
Fellowship (1 award)
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO-SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
Chicago, IL
Francesco Marullo, 2016–17 Douglas A. Garofalo Fellow: The Jungle: Architecture, Production and Logistics of Chicago
Garofalo Fellow Francesco Marullo’s research explores the historical relations between the architecture of logistics, the development of the finance economy, and the rise of labor movements in Chicago over the last two centuries.
Public Programs (8 awards)
ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTURE ORGANIZATIONS
Chicago, IL
2017 Design Matters Conference
An annual event for not-for-profit architectural organizations, the conference explores conceptual and practical issues of public engagement around architecture and design through a series of keynote lectures, architectural tours, exhibitions, and public programs.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY-GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN-AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENT UNION
Cambridge, MA
Black in Design 2017: Designing Resistance, Building Coalitions
This conference promotes discourse around the agency of the design profession to address and dismantle institutional barriers faced by communities of color, and provides a platform to examine the imbalance of representation of people of color across the design fields.
ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY-GRAHAM RESOURCE CENTER & MASTER OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE + URBANISM PROGRAM
Chicago, IL
Alfred Caldwell and the Performance of Democracy: Archives and Events
A series of events drawing on research with institutional and family archives on the landscape architect Alfred Caldwell initiates two public lectures, an outdoor performance, and two academic workshops. These sequential programs touch on a diverse range of geographies and constituencies to amplify access, interpretations, and scholarship on Caldwell.
INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS
London, United Kingdom
The Legacy of Jane Drew: Architecture, Urbanism, and the Built Environment
A new program at the ICA will explore radical architecture, urbanism, and the built environment with a focus on modernist architect Jane Drew, her involvement with the ICA, and her pioneering contribution to the field of architecture.
LAMPO
Chicago, IL
Lampo 2017 concert series at the Graham Foundation
Now in its seventh year, this program will present experimental music concerts, bringing artists from around the world to perform their work for Chicago audiences at the Graham Foundation. The organization promotes and supports artists working in electronic and electroacoustic music, free improvisation, sound art, and other new forms.
NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION-FARNSWORTH HOUSE
Washington, DC
Modern Living (Washington, DC and Plano, IL)
Presented in collaboration with the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial, this performance and film by Los Angeles-based artists Gerard & Kelly explores themes of queer intimacy and domestic space within the legacies of modernist architecture.
NAVY PIER
Chicago, IL
Here Hear Chicago
Showcasing two of Chicago’s premier leaders in the arts and design, a commissioned series of site-specific visual and performance works by artist Nick Cave and architect Jeanne Gang will be presented in conjunction with the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial and EXPO CHICAGO.
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO-SCHOOL OF ART & ART HISTORY
Chicago, IL
Chicago Design: Histories and Narratives
This international conference, organized in collaboration with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, will convene scholars from across the region, country, and globe to reexamine well-known figures and events in the city’s remarkable tradition of modernist design, as well as to consider lesser-known actors, agents, and forces in an expanded history of Chicago design that will explore the full scope of practices cultivated and developed from the late nineteenth century until the end of the twentieth.
Publications (16 awards)
ANYONE CORPORATION
New York, NY
Log: Observations on Architecture and the Contemporary City
An internationally renowned journal of writing on architecture and the contemporary city in the United States, Log publishes criticism and commentary in a literary format, allowing for a meaningful discussion of the central concerns of architectural thinking and practice today.
ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE-UNKNOWN FIELDS DIVISION
London, United Kingdom
Unravelled (Architectural Association/Bedford Press)
A full-color publication using original material collected across India and Bangladesh, Unravelled combines photography, interviews, and research to explore the landscapes and human stories behind fast fashion, from the scale of a single stitch to the planetary supply chain.
Estudio MMX, Eco Pavilion, 2011, Mexico City. Courtesy of Buró-Buró/Museo Experimental el Eco. From the 2017 organizational grant to Buró-Buró for “Libretas Pabellón Eco/Eco Pavilion”. Image courtesy of The Graham Foundation
BURÓ-BURÓ
Mexico City, Mexico
Libretas Pabellón Eco/Eco Pavilion
Documenting the built pavilions of Museo Experimental el Eco’s annual architecture competition in Mexico City, this series of six publications expands on the ways that ephemeral architectural interventions can shape how we experience and think about space in a contemporary and local context.
E-FLUX ARCHITECTURE
New York, NY
Superhumanity (University of Minnesota Press & e-flux Architecture)
This publication brings together over 50 writers, scientists, artists, architects, designers, philosophers, historians, archeologists, and anthropologists to explore and challenge our understanding of “design.”
FLAT OUT
Chicago, IL
Flat Out
This independent print magazine enacts multiple genres of architectural criticism through 15 recurring, fictitious characters positioned to produce surprising points of view and expand the range and terms of critical writing for architecture.
FRONT EXHIBITION COMPANY
Cleveland, OH
An American City: Exhibition Catalogue and Guide
The first edition of FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art, conceived of by the co-artistic directors, Michelle Grabner and Jens Hoffmann, comprises a multipart program of 11 interconnected “cultural exercises” that address aesthetics in relation to political change and societal uncertainty.
THE FUNAMBULIST
Paris, France
The Funambulist
A print and online magazine dedicated to the politics of space and bodies, it is further complemented by a book series, a blog, and a podcast to bridge the disciplines of architecture and design with those of the humanities.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY-GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN-NEW GEOGRAPHIES
Cambridge, MA
New Geographies 09: Posthuman
This journal, led by doctoral students, aims to examine the emergence of the geographic, a new but for the most part latent paradigm in design today, in order to articulate it and bring it to bear effectively on the social role of design. Through critical essays and design projects, this project seeks to position design’s agency amid concerns of scale, infrastructure, ecology, and globalization.
HET NIEUWE INSTITUUT-RESEARCH DEPARTMENT
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Architecture of Appropriation: On Squatting as Spatial Practice
This publication investigates squatting as an architectural practice in order to reexamine notions of vacancy and property, and propose alternative urban and domestic arrangements to the dominant, market-oriented housing policies.
NEW MUSEUM
New York, NY
100 Actions for the Future City (New Museum with Phaidon)
This publication presents an index of ideas, interventions, projects, artworks, and social initiatives from the New Museum’s IdeasCity network of artists, architects, and urban visionaries in support of thriving metropolises. Each act is accompanied by a diagrammatic illustration, offering replicable and scalable maps for readers to implement actions locally.
PERFORMA
New York, NY
Bodyspacemotionthings
A companion to the curatorial initiative presented as part of the Performa 17 biennial, this publication compiles historical and contemporary examples and analyses examining the use of performance as a critical tool to rethink architecture and its agency, goals, and aesthetics. Featuring newly commissioned historical analyses, essays, and portfolios, the book uses the lens of performance to reframe critical questions about the built environment.
Hirsuta, Ambivalent House, 2017. Courtesy the artist. From the 2017 organizational grant to Project: A Journal for Architecture for “Project: A Journal for Architecture”. Image courtesy of The Graham Foundation
PROJECT: A JOURNAL FOR ARCHITECTURE
Brooklyn, NY
Project: A Journal for Architecture (Consolidated Urbanism)
A print and online platform for critical writing and architectural projects, the publication is focused on publishing the work of emerging practices and critics. Now on its seventh issue, it offers the opportunity to present contemporary projects, statements by younger architects, and long-form critical essays to consider the discipline of architecture today.
RICE UNIVERSITY-SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
Houston, TX
PLAT 7.0: Sharing (The Prolific Group)
The latest issue of this journal by students and faculty investigates whether the ubiquitous phrase “Sharing is caring!,” first trademarked in the 1950s by the Salvation Army, is still relevant today. If so, how? And regardless, what do the so-called sharing and platform economies mean for architecture and the built environment?
Pietro Paolini, UR12 Downward Spiral: El Helicoide's Descent from Mall to Prison. El Helicoide, Caracas, Venezuela, 2012. Courtesy of Pietro Paolini/Terra Project. From the 2017 organizational grant to Terreform for “UR (Urban Research) 2017”. Image courtesy of The Graham Foundation
TERREFORM
New York, NY
UR (Urban Research) 2017
This book series is devoted to speculation about the conditions and the future of the city seeking to become a key venue for both individuals and organizations engaged in progressive urban research, design, and critical advocacy.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES-DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN DESIGN
Los Angeles, CA
POOL: Issue No. 3
Content for this issue of UCLA’s student-lead publication in the Department of Architecture and Urban Design focuses on an expanding definition of architectural work that considers curation as a primary form of cultural production in a culture of high volume content exchange.
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA-SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
Gainesville, FL
VORKURS: Exquisite Corpse
The second edition of this architecture publication, produced by graduate students at the University of Florida’s School of Architecture, conjures the surrealist folded-paper game to examine how concepts of the collective, authorship, process, and poetry relate to contemporary architectural discourse.
About the Graham Foundation
Founded in 1956, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts fosters the development and exchange of diverse and challenging ideas about architecture and its role in the arts, culture and society. The Graham realizes this vision through making project-based grants to individuals and organizations, and by producing exhibitions, events and publications. The Graham Foundation was created by a bequest from Ernest R. Graham (1866–1936), a prominent Chicago architect and protégé of Daniel Burnham.
Upcoming Grant Application Deadlines
Grants to Individuals: September 15, 2017
Carter Manny Award: November 15, 2017
Grants to Organizations: February 25, 2018
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