Film Screening: Chicago Architecture Biennial - Chicago's Unique Nuclear Legacy with Théodora Barat

In partnership with Villa Albertine and as part of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, please join us in welcoming French filmmaker and visual artist Theodora Barat for a presentation of three of her documentary shorts:

• Or anything at all except the dark pavement
• Pay-Less Monument
• Off Power

Barat will then be joined in conversation by Amy Beste, Director of Public Programs and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Film, Video, New Media, & Animation at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

After the program, guests will be welcomed to a reception where they can enjoy a complimentary glass of French wine and have the opportunity to speak with the artist. 

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Program starts at 6:30 p.m. Please enter via 54 W Chicago Ave. Non-alcoholic options will be available.

Théodora is currently in residence at Villa Albertine Chicago working on Superform, a project that explores the sculptural and commemorative manifestations of the December 1942 chain reaction in Chicago Pile-1—a nuclear reactor located in the basement of the University of Chicago—through photography, sculpture, and film.

With Superform, I will examine Chicago’s unique nuclear legacy. I will confront the peak of American power and its utopian representations, resonating with the city’s modernist architecture. The aim will be to question their resurgence in our present.

This event is the second in a three-part series of free programs as part of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, in partnership with Villa Albertine. A previous event featured French architecture agency Atelier Senzu. Join us for the final program of the series:

• Thursday, November 6 Film Screening: Fernand Pouillon, France’s Most Wanted Architect

About the Filmmaker

Théodora Barat

Théodora Barat is a filmmaker, visual artist, and researcher. Based in France, she is a faculty at Nantes School of Art. Her work has been exhibited and discussed in various institutions in France and abroad. Her films have been screened at numerous international film festivals.

Combining film, photography, and installation, she focuses on the various manifestations and incarnations of the techno-capitalist paradigm — at the foundation of our “modern” societies. Her trilogy Pay-Less Monument (2018), Off Power (2021), and Americium (2024) is devoted to the destructive exploitation of chosen territories and the intertwining of capitalism and energy.

About the Moderator

Amy Beste

Amy Beste is director of public programs and senior lecturer in the department of film, video, new media, and animation at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her publications include “Interview with Hannes Schüpbach” in Schüpbach (2015) and “Designers in Film: Goldsholl Associates, the Avant-Garde, and Midcentury Advertising Films” in Jacob and Baas (2012). She curates “Exhibitions: Conversations at the Edge,” an ongoing series of screenings, talks, and performances by leading media artists at the Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago. Beste received her PhD from Northwestern University.

About the Chicago Architecture Biennial

The Chicago Architecture Biennial convenes the world to explore innovative ideas and collectively imagine the future of design. The Biennial’s large-scale exhibitions, talks, performances, films, and other events, create opportunities to engage timely global issues through the lens of architecture and design, emphasizing creativity and community participation. Free and open to the public, the Chicago Architecture Biennial stands as North America’s largest international survey of contemporary architecture and design.

The sixth edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, SHIFT: Architecture in Times of Radical Change, opens September 19, 2025 and will be on view through February 28, 2026.

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