CULTURE

Fall 2026 Midterm Reviews

Seniors and Juniors Studios

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Fall 2026 Midterm Reviews

Sophomore Studio with Profs. John Clark and Andrew Weiss

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The fifth edition of the Chicago Sukkah Design Festival is now open through October 19, 2026, featuring the work of multiple Illinois School of Architecture faculty members Wekeana Lassiter and Madalyn Asker. The Chicago Sukkah Design Festival brings together neighbors, community organizations, architects, designers, artists, and students to co-create sukkahs—structures inspired by Jewish tradition—reimagined as places of belonging, solidarity, and community identity. During the Festival, the landscape of unique sukkah structures is activated with multiple public programs. After the Festival, each sukkah is relocated and permanently re-installed at the facilities of the community organizations that co-designed them, as vibrant new program spaces that stimulate community development. This year’s festival features sukkahs designed by Assistant Professor Madalyn Asker (@studio_otherwise) and Teaching Assistant Professor Wekeana Lassiter. Prof. Asker collaborated with NeighborSpace to create a sukkah as nature play pavilion; and Prof. Lassiter collaborated with Celestial Ministries Association to create a sukkah as a vertical garden and drum circle space. Associate Professor Joseph Altshuler (@couldbearchitecture) serves as the Festival’s founding artistic director.

The Chicago Sukkah Design Festival is located at James Stone Freedom Square, 3615 W Douglas Blvd, Chicago, and open daily from 10:00am–5:00pm from September 27–October 19, 2026.

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Congratulations to the Context Graduate Prize First Place Winner, Prajakti Gautam, Afrin Moury, and Rebecca Brodne, as well as their professor Paul Armstrong.

About their winning project The Triada:
The Triada is a mixed-use tower proposed between N Columbus Dr. and E North Water St. in Chicago’s mixed-use zone, the site has a strong potential to become more active, public, and connected to the city. The social aspect responds to nearby residents and workers, including young married people, working professionals, and some older families. The environmental aspect responds to rivers, parks, and public spaces around the site. Green corridors from surrounding parks continue upward through the hotel, residential, and penthouse zones, creating an urban green continuum where landscape becomes part of daily life.

Congratulations again!

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Congratulations to Barcelona Earl Prize Third Place Winner, Marco Maniacci, as well as their professors Alejandro Lapunzina and Laia Cistero.

About their winning project Twin Theatres:

Twin Theatres is situated in Poblenou, located in Barcelonas developing neighborhood “El Poblenou”. The project reconsiders conventional relationships between performance, audience, and building by elevating the primary theatre above ground, creating a series of alternative, flexible performance spaces beneath the main auditorium.

Congratulations again!

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Congratulations to Junior Earl Prize Third Place Winner, Itzel Cruz Davalos, as well as their professor Tait Johnson.

About their winning project Cultural Nodes:
“The design fosters the concept of culture through developed curvilinear spaces that bring the Urbana community and future cohousing residents together. Boneyard Creek’s path through Champaign and Urbana inspired the creation of cultural nodes, which unify the entirety of the site through conversations, music, and learning enviorments, ultimately highlighting the importance of living in community.”

Congratulations again!

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Congratulations to the Space+Wellness Graduate Prize First Place Winners, Jenna Lin, Ellie Lynch, and Jeremiah Pham, as well as their professor Botond Bognar.

About their winning project Kyoto Ma:
Kyoto Ma Studio is a mixed-use architectural complex located in the dense urban center of Kyoto. Inspired by the Japanese concept of Ma, the space in between, the project explores how architecture can create layers of transition, filtration, and pause within an active urban environment. A continuous pathway weaves through fragmented building volumes, creating an elongated experience of movement between interior and exterior. Aluminum shading panels filter light, air, and views, creating shifting moments of openness, enclosure, and pause while maintaining a connection to the surrounding environment.

Congratulations again!

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