It’s a busy year for Sarah Herda: As she continues her role as director of the Graham Foundation, a nonprofit architectural organization, she also prepares to codirect the Chicago Architecture Biennial (October 3 to January 3, chicagoarchitecturebiennial.‌org). The first such event in North America, the biennial will host world-class architects from more than 40 countries for a series of events focused around the future of building, making Chicago the center of the contemporary architectural universe. “No matter where you are in the world, you learned about Chicago when you became an architect. It’s a shared backdrop to have a conversation about the future,” says the 42-year-old Seattle native.

Herda’s passion for architecture extends to her personal effects, and her home—a Mies van der Rohe high-rise on Lake Shore Drive—is a modernist oasis for her and her husband, Kenneth Stewart, chief of operations for Rebuild Foundation, which focuses on neighborhood redevelopment. Here are some of her favorite things.