Partners of the Houston-based studio MG&Co., Noëmi Mollet and Reto Geiser, have become known for taking on projects that range intentionally in scale from books to small-scale architectural projects. Geiser describes their work as positioned at the intersection between architecture and design.At the Chicago Architecture Biennial, Mollet and Geiser are expanding their interest in architectural bookmaking with a multidisciplinary project. “The project started off with knowing there would be a bookshop at the Biennial, so we decided to expand this notion of the place where we buy books, to an environment in which you can actually think about the relevance of books to architecture and history, and look at them in a different way,” said Geiser.“Rooms for Books” divides a single gallery into four distinct spaces in dialogue with each other. The store is a satellite of the Graham Foundation Bookshop, which offers works by Biennial participants as well as design titles from around the world. Bright green and filled with books for sale, this section reflects one way to navigate the publishing landscape.Standing in contrast to the store is a reference room adjacent to it. For this space, Mollet and Geiser gathered over 400 titles from Biennial participants, re-covered them in white dust jackets, assigned call numbers, and referenced them through an index. “We wanted to treat all participants equally and take the marketing aspect of book covers out and to create a really calm, focused environment,” said Geiser.One of the other rooms is the quadrant dedicated to programming, which acts as a platform for discussion around the different topics represented within the Biennial and on architectural publishing. Public programming will continue in the “Rooms for Books” throughout the Biennial, including lectures, roundtables, interviews, and presentations.The final element of the installation investigates the link between publication and architectural practice itself, exhibiting a selection of books from the library of Chicago architects Stanley Tigerman and Margaret McCurry. The antique pink of this space aims to differentiate it from the adjacent rooms, and also references a 1970s exhibition of Tigerman’s that presented all of his drawings in the same shade of blush.“Rooms for Books” offers visitors a unique context to consider the printed history of the Biennial’s projects and think broadly about each room in a wider cultural context, noted Architizer.   Read more