From October 2015 to January 2016, otherothers' Grace Mortlock and David Neustein will represent Australia at the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial, with an installation that will be on display throughout the duration of the Biennial.

In all, over a hundred architecture and design practices from around the world will feature in North America’s first Architecture Biennial in Chicago, which have been selected from a list of some 500 architects and chosen on the basis of whether they are pushing the limits of, or redefining, the field. Founded in 2013 by Mortlock and Neustein, otherothers is the lone Australian practice to be selected for this prestigious international event.

Mortlock and Neustein’s project, Offset House, will be exhibited at the Chicago Cultural Center alongside work from leading contemporary architects including Bjarke Ingels, Lacaton & Vassal, Jeanne Gang and Junya Ishigami.

Offset House is an exploration of architectural and urban strategies for rethinking suburbia. The installation consists of two parts, a 1:10 scale model of a typical suburban house, and a 1:50 scale model of an archetypal suburban block of eight freestanding homes. Both models are constructed from a combination of CNC-milled, laser-cut and handmade timber and plastic elements. The two models occupy identically sized wooden plinths. An invisible line runs through both models, dividing them into ‘before’ and ‘after’ halves: the current condition of suburban housing, and the transformed reality following otherothers’ intervention.

The installation will be on display throughout the duration of the Biennial, from 1 October 2015 – 3 January 2016.

otherothers
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Photography by Tom Harris