As the Douglas A. Garofalo Fellow from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) School of Architecture, Anne Dessing has researched architectural elements that divide space, such as walls, doors, windows, columns, fences, arches, and gates. 

Through a pictorial essay of architectural elements and surfaces from Detroit, St. Louis, and Chicago, Dessing shares her observations as stories of surreal situations in the Midwest. This talk supplements the exhibition of the same name currently on view at the UIC School of Architecture until May 10.

Anne Dessing is an architect based in Amsterdam. Since graduating from the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture in 2012, she has been awarded grants from the Creative Industries Fund NL and the Prince Bernhard Cultural Foundation. Her practice, Studio Anne Dessing, operates at the intersection of art and architecture, and she researches architecture through exhibitions, installations, drawings, models, interiors, and (temporary) buildings. Dessing has taught at the Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the Rietveld Academy, and the Chair of Interiors Buildings Cities at TU Delft.

About the Douglas A. Garofalo Fellowship

Named in honor of architect and educator Doug Garofalo (1958–2011), this nine-month teaching fellowship—supported with a grant from the Graham Foundation—provides emerging designers the opportunity to teach studio and seminar courses in the undergraduate and graduate programs and conduct independent design research. The fellowship also includes a public lecture at the Graham Foundation and an exhibition at the UIC School of Architecture. To learn more about the fellowship, click here.

Image: Anne Dessing, Harold’s Chicken Shack W 87th St, rendering, 2019