Cities across the United States were hollowed-out by deindustrialization and the covid-era decline in office work. Today, nearly 1 billion square feet of office space are vacant.

As craft merges with technology and design merges with production, a new generation of sustainable, local, made-to-order products will be created in dense urban areas.

Every city has a heritage product, from the automobiles of Detroit to the cameras of Rochester.

In the next chapter of American cities, buildings will be re-animated with advanced manufacturing equipment, such as 3D printers, textile molders, and precision robotics. Vacant office buildings in dense urban areas will become the factories of the future.

10 May — 23 November 2025

19th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia Architettura 2025: Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective.

Field States + Versostudio with Arsenalia