18 of a Kind, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2025. © David Schalliol.
18 of a Kind, the inaugural activity of The Available City, NFP (TAC), promotes new roles that collective space can have in the city today through the construction of 18 objects and spaces designed by invited national and international architects for hosting events in each of the 18 underserved South and West Side Chicago neighborhoods that have the highest quantities of city-owned vacant land, and are home to primarily Black and Brown communities. Through these events, utilizing an object or space focused on performance in the summer and fall of 2026, 18 of a Kind reflects on commonalities and areas of distinction in each neighborhood.
Thematically, the design of each object will draw upon history, culture, interests, and needs to highlight commonalities and celebrate the unique identity of each neighborhood. TAC is commissioning 18 portable object (stands, chairs, small platforms, and small frames) that are easy to move to different locations for performances and community events. Additionally, TAC is organizing collaborations between invited architects and local community organizations to make fixed spaces (platforms, frames, canopies, and shells) in specific sites that reflect the interests and needs of those community organizations.
Through these activities, 18 of a Kind introduces direct experiences of collective space broadly in order to develop relationships and partnerships with community organizations within each neighborhood that can lead to the making of additional collective spaces in subsequent years. It thus contributes to TAC’s intention to work continuously with neighborhood community organizations, and architects, to design and construct collective spaces that reflect their interests and needs and contribute new resources and opportunities within their communities. In this event and planned efforts, TAC applies knowledge gained from David Brown’s artistic direction of the fourth edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial in 2021, focused on The Available City, his urban design research presented in BOLD as part of CAB 1 in 2015, in title and theme.
Presented at the MAS Context Reading Room are an initial set of drawings by some of the invited designers, as well as the developing proposal for one collective space, along with some other work related to The Available City as a speculative urban design framework and an NFP.
GALLERY VISITS
Gallery visits are available August 7–August 30 by appointment. To book a visit, please use our calendar form to see available dates and times.
The MAS Context Reading Room is located on the second floor, which is only accessible by stairs.
If you have any questions, please contact us at info@mascontext.com.
RELATED EVENTS
Thursday, August 7, 2025, 5PM
Reception with curator
EXHIBITION CREDITS
Curator: David Brown
Artists: Akima Brackeen, FLYHALF (Adam Maserow and Isabel Strauss), César Lopez, Sheryl Tucker de Vasquez, and William Williams
Mock-up Model and Collective Spaces: Zia George, Jazmin Morales, Jose Ortiz, and Aliya Perez
Boxville Model: Aliya Perez
Boxville Model ground: FLYHALF
Map of 18 of a Kind: Jonathan Alvarez, Jose Ortiz, and Bao Tran
Exhibition organized by The Available City and presented by MAS Context.
18 of a Kind, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2025. © David Schalliol.
18 of a Kind, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2025. © David Schalliol.
18 of a Kind, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2025. © David Schalliol.
18 of a Kind, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2025. © David Schalliol.
18 of a Kind, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2025. © David Schalliol.
18 of a Kind, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2025. © David Schalliol.
18 of a Kind, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2025. © David Schalliol.
18 of a Kind, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2025. © David Schalliol.
18 of a Kind, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2025. © David Schalliol.
18 of a Kind, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2025. © David Schalliol.
