This two-day conference complements current discourse about urban architecture by concentrating on public space—who controls it, who has access to it, and how its governance shapes the socioeconomic environment we inhabit. The program consists of two parts: Owning the Streets, which focuses on the stewardship of public space today, and Reclaiming the Streets, an interactive workshop to apply new ideas about the future of architecture and public space to a particular site in Chicago. The conference is organized by MAS Studios, Dilettante Studios, and the Hyde Park Art Center. Participants include Patrizia di Monte (Spain), Iker Gil (Chicago), David C. Perry (Chicago), Quilian Riano (New York), and Mimi Zeiger (Los Angeles).

Patrizia di Monte is an architect, founder of gravalosdimonte arquitectos, and the mastermind behind Estonoesunsolar, an artist/architect collective focused on the cleaning, rehabilitation, and maintenance of brownfield plots within the city of Zaragoza, Spain, to create open spaces for the community.

Iker Gil is an architect, urban designer, and director of MAS Studio. He is currently on faculty at Illinois Institute of Technology and serves as adjunct professor at University of Illinois at Chicago, in addition to  codirecting the Chicago Expander Program at Archeworks. He received his PhD from Escola Tecnica Superior d'Arquitectura de Barcelona (ETSAB), and holds an MArch from University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).

David Perry is professor of urban planning and policy in the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he served for almost twelve years as director of the Great Cities Institute. Perry is the author or editor of eleven books and over 150 articles, book chapters, or reports on urban "anchor" institutions; urban and regional economic development policy; race, politics and urban violence; contested cities; public infrastructure; and the production of urban space.

Quilian Riano is a designer, researcher, writer, and educator currently working out of Brooklyn, New York. Riano works with community groups and transdisciplinary teams to create comprehensive research that can be used to propose a variety of targeted policies, actions, and designs at various scales—from pamphlets and architectures to landscapes. He leads #whOWnSpace, a project that grew out of the questions that surfaced during the Occupy Movement concerning ownership and use of open space in New York, North America, and cities around the world.

Mimi Zeiger is a Los Angeles–based journalist and critic. She covers art, architecture, urbanism, and design for a number of publications, including the New York Times, Domus, Dwell, and Architect, where she is a contributing editor. Zeiger is the author of New Museums, Tiny Houses, and Micro Green: Tiny Houses in Nature.

The Hyde Park Art Center's mission is to stimulate and sustain the visual arts in Chicago. The Hyde Park Art Center (HPAC) was founded in 1939 with the philosophy that "art should be found wherever people live and work." Seventy-five years later, we continue to value equity and inclusivity and strive to eliminate barriers to participation in the visual arts. We are working to ensure that our city's current and future artists and cultural leaders are recognized for their talents and contributions and are representative of the rich diversity that makes Chicago great.

Our programs address this need by providing open access to high-quality arts education opportunities for youth to adults, novices to professionals, both onsite and in Chicago Public Schools; offering a variety of ways to become involved in a neighborhood hub on Chicago's South Side that is focused on directly connecting the community with the artistic process and its city's artists; and supporting the development of local artists' artistic practices at key points in their careers. Following a successful capital campaign in 2006, the HPAC vastly broadened its reach and filled gaps in its programming to deepen its impact and respond to the needs of the Chicago community. With an expansive reach and bold personality, the HPAC brings artists and communities together to support creativity at every level. By developing socially adept programming that engages diverse audiences in the work of Chicago's artists, the Hyde Park Art Center facilitates transparent interaction with art and the artistic process, inspiring creative exploration and encouraging exchange between audiences and artists.