In 2009 the Department of Urban Speculation (DeptUS) was established in Chicago to act as a link between architecture as a professional practice and architecture as an academic pursuit. The Department specializes in architectural and urban projects based on a speculative interpretation of our built environment. We find and define productive freedoms for every project we undertake through engaging four main imperatives: Prospect Consistency, Adopt Your City, Trap Abundance, and Risk Your Control.
DeptUS is closely linked to the UIC School of Architecture here in Chicago. Through the division into three main offices, we maintain an agenda focused on re-imagining the discipline’s intersection with the urban environment.
Our ambition as professional amateurs is no less than to build another way to do things, a new Chicago School.
