Could Be Architecture

This past weekend, The Society for Experiential Graphic Design () recognized Carousel for Companionship, our social infrastructure design and supergraphic landscape in Columbus, Indiana, with a 2025 SEGD Global Design Award (https://segd.org/projects/carousel-for-companionship/) in the Public Installation category. Since 1987, the SEGD Global Design Awards have set the standard of excellence for experiential design, honoring work that connects people to place. Honor awards recognize exemplary distinction in completed experience design projects. Juror 1 noted, “It’s joyful, generous, and full of heart—turning a vacant space into a vibrant gathering place that invites connection, play, and shared experience. It’s a beautiful reminder of what design can do with very little.” Juror 2 reflected, “Bold and eye-catching, this public installation is a seemingly simple mix of graphics and community building interactives that packs a big punch.” We’re happy also happy to share that the Carousel was acquired by the City of Columbus’s Department of Parks and Recreation () and is spinning again and open the public at NexusPark (). Stay tuned for grand re-opening event in 2026.

Many thanks to for your ongoing partnership! Cheers to the original commissioners .columbus and , with design research support from and . Deep gratitude to muralist partners and . Hats off to fabricators for the initial build and for the reinstallation and tune-up. Photo by .

Design team: Joseph Altshuler, Zack Morrison, and Amir Zarei ().
More info
: https://segd.org/projects/carousel-for-companionship/

We’re thrilled to share that the Langham Children’s Suite celebrated its grand opening this week! The Langham Children’s Suite is a Chicago Children’s Museum () outpost located at The Langham () hotel in downtown Chicago. Our exhibition design features five interactive zones that offer developmentally appropriate playful learning experiences for kids age 3–8.

—The Chicago Skyline Screen presents building-shaped pegboards that invite you to create multi-colored patterns of “windows” on iconic Chicago skyscrapers. 
—The Skyline Alley is a gross motor area that invites kiddos to climb along a path of soft sculptures.
—The Skyline Activity Wall is a magnetic wall for playing with tangrams and other interactive tiles.
—The Small Worlds Play Zone features a custom graphic cityscape rug, with blocks and vehicles for pretend play.
—Finally, the Physics Nook features wall-mounted, interactive tracks for kids to design their own ball-falling scenarios.

Exhibition Design: Joseph Altshuler and Zack Morrison
Content Partner:
Fabrication:
Photography:

We’re thrilled to announce that the Chicago Sukkah Design Festival (CSDF) returns for its 3rd edition, opening this SUNDAY, OCT 6 and running through Oct 26! Sukkahs are temporary outdoor structures built for Sukkot, a Jewish holiday of the harvest and collective liberation. CSDF celebrates how these usually temporary structures can be repurposed to build community in new contexts. It celebrates the cultural heritage of North Lawndale and builds solidarity among multiple communities.

5 Chicago-based design teams collaborate with 5 community organizations to co-create sukkahs dedicated to the organizations’ missions. During CSDF, the landscape of unique sukkah structures is open to the public and activated with programming. After CSDF, each sukkah is relocated and re-installed at the organizations that co-designed them as permanent program spaces, including a communal table, seed library, garden material recycling station, literacy landmark, and hospital campus stoop.

CSDF is part of , a citywide collaboration initiated by the that highlights the city’s artistic heritage and creative communities.

Artistic Director:
Venue Director:
Community Design Director: ,
Public Program Director: ,
Festival Lot Steward: Stone Temple Baptist Church, .fitzpatrick
Exhibition Design:

Design/Build Contributors: .racine, , , , .dillon, .online, , , , ,
Community Organization Participants: Chicago Street Vendors Association, , , , , ,
Program Partners: , , , , , Flava Food 4 the Soul, Chicago Klezmer Ensemble, ,
Storytelling partner:
Fiscal Agent:
Sponsors: Driehaus Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies, , Jules and Gwen Knapp Charitable Foundation

‘LOOP AS LAB: Reshaping Downtown’ is a new exhibition at the Chicago Architecture Center () that examines the challenges and opportunities facing urban cores like Chicago’s Loop in the post-pandemic era. The exhibition creates new entry points into the creative processes, people, and projects that have shaped the histories and futures of Chicago’s downtown district, offering guiding questions and inspirations for other cities. Our exhibition design riffs on the multiple meanings of the term ‘framework’—framework as a planning tool, street grid, and structural innovation that accelerated the city’s development. Organized around the curatorial themes of residing, renewing, reconnecting, and rewilding downtowns, the show features case studies and architectural follies that provide interactive experiences designed to spark dialogue and participatory exchange. For example:
—peek into a periscope to Reconnect with the river that links the city’s north and south sides;
—step into the Thompson Center voting booth to weigh in on adaptive reuse scenarios to Renew our built environment with unique public spaces;
—sit, Reside, and linger at the civic stoop to discuss priorities for Chicago’s futures before voicing your opinion at the ballot box; and
—dive deep into scenarios for Rewilding our urban core by dissecting layers of the Wild Mile.

A supergraphic floor pattern inspired by civic gathering spaces near and far (from the Piazza del Campidoglio to the James R. Thompson Center) brings the follies together in a radial configuration, inviting visitors to explore and crisscross the gallery in any sequence. Vote early and often at the Renew and Reside follies! The exhibition runs through the end of 2024.

Exhibition Design: (Joseph Altshuler & Zack Morrison)
Graphic Design: (Bud Rodecker, Marisa Cruz, Alec Hudson and Alyssa Arnesen)
Chicago Architecture Center Curatorial Team: Eve Fineman, Ian Spula, Adam Rubin
Fabrication:
Photography: