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MAS Context Fall Talks 2017

Mass Market Alternatives

August 28-October 2, 2017

MAS Context and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s (SAIC) Department of Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects (AIADO) presented the exhibition Mass Market Alternatives by architect John Szot at the AIADO gallery located on the 12th floor of the Sullivan Center.

Contributors

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Mass Market Alternatives exhibition by John Szot, Chicago, 2017. © Iker Gil.

About the exhibition

Industrialization has had a profound effect on the American suburb. Only American audacity could have concocted and executed the formula for mass-produced homes that dominates the suburban real estate market in the United States. And only in America could such a formula become an economic and political juggernaut, making places where matters of personal taste are amplified into cultural bulwarks.

Mass Market Alternatives seeks to exploit the economic leverage and aesthetic principles of mass-market suburban housing in order to diversify its potential customer base and challenge the reputation of the suburbs as enclaves of conservatism and political conformity.

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Mass Market Alternatives exhibition by John Szot, Chicago, 2017. © Iker Gil.

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Mass Market Alternatives exhibition by John Szot, Chicago, 2017. © Iker Gil.

The exhibition was accompanied by two talks by John Szot in Chicago:

– September 26 at 4:15 pm at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) → Read
36 South Wabash, 12th Floor, Room 1226
Open to the public (ID Required)

– September 27 at noon at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Chicago
224 South Michigan Avenue, 5th Floor
Open for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill staff and MAS Context donors and contributors.

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Mass Market Alternatives exhibition by John Szot, Chicago, 2017. © Iker Gil.

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Mass Market Alternatives exhibition by John Szot, Chicago, 2017. © Iker Gil.

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Mass Market Alternatives exhibition by John Szot, Chicago, 2017. © Iker Gil.

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Mass Market Alternatives exhibition by John Szot, Chicago, 2017. © Iker Gil.

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Mass Market Alternatives exhibition by John Szot, Chicago, 2017. © Iker Gil.

Exhibition credits

Author: John Szot Studio
Organizing institutions: School of the Art Institute of Chicago and MAS Context
Installation: Iker Gil, Julie Michiels, and Ken Byron
Printing: American Color Labs
Vinyl lettering: JNL Graphic Design
Models: John Szot Studio
Video: John Szot Studio

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John Szot

John Szot is an architect practicing in New York City and Portland, Oregon. He is a prior contributor to MAS Context, and his work in building design has been exhibited internationally. His forthcoming book Buildingness is slated for publication in early 2024. He has previously taught design at Columbia University, the Pratt Institute, and the University of Texas at Austin, and he is currently a member of the faculty at the University of Oregon School of Architecture and Environment.