Archinect City Guide returns with an architect's perspective of Chicago! Our guide this time is Ann Lui, Assistant Professor of Practice at the University of Michigan's Taubman College and one of the two founding principals (with Craig Reschke) of the architecture and design research office Future Firm based in the Windy City. Lui was a co-curator of the 'Dimensions of Citizenship' 2018 U.S. Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, and Archinectors may also remember our Next Up: Exhibit Columbus podcast interview and the Studio Snapshot special with Future Firm. For our City Guide, Lui shares her insider tips on which Chi-Town eateries, bars, cafés, bookstores, and museums might be especially interesting for architects and designers visiting the city.  Are you a Chicago local with your own go-to spots? Or have a city you think we should cover next? Share your thoughts, suggestions, and favorite places in the comments.

When Alexander Graham Bell filed a patent for the telephone on February 14th, 1876, he beat competing telephone developer Elisha Gray to the patent office by just a few hours.

Designed in 1958 by architect Charles A. Marsh Jr. for celebrated Seattle artist Alden Mason, this Mid-Century modern home feels like a secret treehouse tucked into the woods near Lake Washington. Recently restored by Nahoko Ueda of Ueda Design Studio, the house delicately blends preservation and innovation. It’s a deeply personal home that continues to celebrate creativity, connection to nature, and thoughtful design.

Scott Johnson surveys his impressive career—and designs—in a new book.

In this episode of our Studio Snapshot series, Archinect connected with James Leng and Jennifer Ly, founding partners of Figure. While formally based in San Francisco, the studio enjoys great structural liberty by working mostly remotely — a strategy reflected in the geographic variety of the young firm's work.  Both partners bring a highly impressive portfolio of academic accolades to their practice, including the Burnham Prize, SOM Foundation Research Prize, Vilcek Prize, Rotch Travelling Scholarship, James Templeton Kelley Prize, Harvard’s Department of Architecture Faculty Design Award, and the Harry der Boghosian Teaching Fellowship (avid Archinect readers will remember our Fellow Fellows feature interview with James Leng on the outcome of his fellowship at Syracuse). Our conversation touches on the question of becoming a specialist vs. a jack of all typologies, how high costs affect the way they build, and what they value in new hires. (Figure is currently hiring a Job Captai...