TRACES Installation at SHIFT: Chicago Architecture Biennial 2025 — Reframing Memory Through Impermanent Architecture

Traces, designed by Balsa Crosetto Piazzi in collaboration with Giorgis Ortiz, is a temporary installation for the SHIFT: Chicago Architecture Biennial 2025, curated by Valentina Díaz. Located within Chicago’s Jackson Park, the project transforms 10,000 dry-stacked bricks into a contemplative public space that questions how architecture remembers, reconstructs, and reframes historical narratives.

Revisiting the Legacy of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair

Set on the grounds of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, the installation invites visitors to reflect on the monumental scale and theatricality of the historic exposition. Many original buildings at the fair were celebrated as iconic neoclassical architecture, yet they were never intended to last. They were temporary structures, dressed with white spray paint and plaster to imitate stone and permanence.

Traces uses this history as both anchor and critique, revealing the contrast between the fair’s grand illusions and the ephemeral realities behind them. The installation asks: What does permanence mean when architectural significance outlives the materials themselves?

Dry-Stacked Brick as a Tool for Collective Memory

Constructed entirely from 10,000 unbound, dry-stacked bricks, Traces becomes a new form of collective public space—both grounded and temporary. The technique reinforces a conceptual shift in contemporary architecture: a move away from monumental permanence and toward circularity, reuse, adaptability, and material honesty.

By choosing a material traditionally associated with longevity yet arranging it without mortar, the designers create a deliberate tension. Brick becomes a medium for impermanence, allowing the installation to be assembled, adapted, or deconstructed without waste. This approach echoes broader movements in sustainable and regenerative design, aligning with the Biennial’s focus on ecological responsibility and alternative construction methods.

A Physical Line that Redraws Lost Architecture

The installation forms a long, shallow brick outline—an architectural trace—mapping the original Great Buildings that once stood at the core of the 1893 exposition. This minimalist gesture transforms absence into presence, giving form to places that have vanished while resisting the impulse to nostalgically reconstruct them.

Instead, Traces acts as:

• A curated reconstruction that honors the past without replicating it
• A conceptual framework for future public use and interpretation
• A flexible gathering space shaped by community presence rather than historical spectacle

The spatial experience encourages movement, pause, and reflection, transforming the brick line into a participatory landscape within Jackson Park.

From Spectacle to Substance: A Contemporary Architectural Critique

Through its material approach and quiet spatial language, Traces offers a pointed critique of architectural values—past and present. The project reframes the fair’s original ambitions, shifting focus from grandeur and illusion to:

• Material transparency
• Adaptable construction methods
• Collective engagement with public space
• Architecture as process rather than performance

This transformation embodies a shift from permanence as visual effect to impermanence as intentional, meaningful design strategy.

A Living Installation Activated by the Chicago Architecture Biennial

As part of the 2025 Chicago Architecture Biennial, Traces becomes a platform for interaction, dialogue, and community engagement. Rather than serving as a static exhibit, the installation evolves as visitors use, reinterpret, and activate the space. It stands as both a memory of what was lost and a prompt for future possibilities in the ongoing narrative of Jackson Park.