Chicago Underground Practice has no comment on the matter of architecture’s role and responsibility in responding to the politics of othering in the current moment.

We seek projects with causes attached to them, particularly those with historic references. We want to directly affect people’s perception of space through dream-like visions of architecture. Our projects fit under the umbrella of radical preservation, a term we have coined in protest to the American trend of demolishing outdated buildings. Radical preservation is also a method of reversal from the known state of restoration where, instead of renewing a building to its original state, we allow it to evolve into a new type of architecture by adding programmatic elements and design to its existing structure.Chicago Underground Practice functions unconventionally as a business. We have no clients. All of Chicago Underground Practice’s work is in the form of open competitions. This grants us creative freedoms that many architects lose over the course of their careers. Chicago Underground Practice does not design architecture to be built. Our designs are fantastical in nature and are meant to push the boundaries of what architecture could be.

Location: Chicago, Illinois
T. Joseph Surjan - design scientist & writer
S. Hjelte Fumanelli - project architect & digital modeling