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Dan Coma, Neil Denari, Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, Laurie Hawkinson, Michael Kalil, Katherine Krizek, Taeg Yoshinobu Nishimoto, Kyong Park, Peter Pfau and Wes Jones, Allan Wexler, and Lebbeus Woods

Critical Regionalism highlights drawings and models by twelve architects and architectural teams from New York City. Selected by Glenn Weiss and Kyong Park of Storefront for Art and Architecture, the works all projected a strong visual presence. These architects considered themselves artists as well as designers, and the group shared a strong social commitment, working to create new visionary forms instrumental in shaping a more harmonious society. Included in the exhibition were Dan Coma, Neil Denari, Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, Laurie Hawkinson, Michael Kalil, Katherine Krizek, Taeg Yoshinobu Nishimoto, Kyong Park, Peter Pfau and Wes Jones, Allan Wexler, and Lebbeus Woods.

The architects in this exhibition did not fit comfortably into the reigning “post-modern” categories. Rather than mine past epochs for architectural forms, they drew inspiration from the contemporary art world, incorporating concepts from Minimalism, Conceptual Art and other 1970s movements. Through self-initiated design projects, they sought to create a new wholeness rather than dwell on the fragmentation and loss of meaning characteristic of modern life.

Glenn Weiss and Kyong Park were Co-Directors of NYC’s Storefront for Art and Architecture. This not-for-profit space, founded in 1983, sponsors exhibitions and other activities which cross the boundaries between architecture and art. Storefront is a forum for ideas about socially conscious design and visionary forms.

Critical Regionalism is presented concurrently with The Coming of Age of Chicago Design: 1920-1945.