City/Cité: French Perspectives – Editorial & Information Design

Overview

A comprehensive cultural map and program guide designed for Villa Albertine in collaboration with the 5th Chicago Architecture Biennial. The publication bridges two cultural institutions to present a transnational initiative exploring urban issues, architecture, and civic engagement across multiple Chicago sites.

Role & Scope

• Disciplines: Editorial Design, Information Architecture, Typographic Hierarchy, Print Production.

• Deliverables: A multi-panel foldout cultural guide featuring a custom-rendered regional map, institutional partner indexing, exhibition schedules, and bilingual editorial formatting.

Key Design Highlights

• Spatial & Information Hierarchy: Harmonized dense architectural photography, partner logo lockups, and a numbered mapping system (locations 1–9) to guide readers seamlessly from city-wide context down to specific venue details.

• Bilingual Editorial Layout: Structured the "About" and curatorial statements ("This Is a Rehearsal") into clean, legible columns that maintain high contrast against an earthy, terracotta-and-sage visual motif reflecting the biennial's organic and structural themes.

• Institutional Coordination: Integrated complex co-branding, partner credits, and sponsor acknowledgments (including Alliance Française de Chicago, Chicago Architecture Center, and the Graham Foundation) into a balanced footer architecture without cluttering the primary narrative.