Exhibit Columbus releases design commissions for Washington Street
Exhibit Columbus on Friday released five new design concepts commissioned for Washington Street. These projects are part of the the 2019 exhibition, which will feature 18 temporary installations in total and opens to the public on August 24.
Organizers say the Washington Street Civic Projects are designed by mission-driven organizations from across North America that will activate sites throughout downtown. This year, Exhibit Columbus explores the thematic concept of good design and the community in a tangible way by inviting architects, artists, and designers to create outdoor installations and experiences that use Columbuss built heritage as context and inspiration.
The Washington Street Civic Projects provide a unique lens through which we hope to examine the notion of civic engagement through exhibition, said Anne Surak, Exhibit Columbus Director of Exhibitions. These innovative organizations use architecture and design as tools of collaboration to effect positive change in their own cities, and we are excited to have them develop temporary projects in our community.
2019 Washington Street Civic Project Leaders
Borderless Studio Chicago
Borderless Studio is an urban design and research consultancy focused on shaping communities through collaborative design. The Chicago-based studio, led by Paola Aguirre, explores comprehensive city design solutions that address complex urban systems and equitable development, with emphasis on research and communication across disciplines and fields of practice.
Love Letter to The Crump
The Crump Theater is a significant asset in downtown Columbusafter more than two decades of assessment and feasibility studies for its redevelopment, the stepping stones for its rehabilitation and reactivation are falling into place and plans for its rebirth as a performing arts center are gaining momentum. This project consists of a collective love letter showcased through a large-scale exterior curtain installation at The Crump. The letter will be written in the abstract a new graphic pattern inspired by Alexander Girards urban and textile design practices – and designed in collaboration with members of the community through participatory workshops where they will contribute to the creation of an abstract language inspired by the architectural features and character of the art-deco theatre. The projects purpose is to invite both residents and visitors to reflect on the transformation process of places in Columbus foremost, Love Letter to The Crump aims to generate a dialogue about new forms and meanings for preservation, as well as shared values and processes that could guide our decisions about heritage places in our cities.
Extrapolation Factory New York
The Extrapolation Factory is a design-based research studio for participatory futures studies, founded in New York by Chris Woebken and Elliott P. Montgomery. The studio develops experimental methods for collaboratively prototyping, experiencing and impacting future scenarios. With this work, the studio is exploring new territories for democratized futures by rapidly imagining, prototyping, distributing, and evaluating visions of possible futures on an extended time scale.
Futures Kiosk
Central to Extrapolation Factorys methods of engagement are the creation of hypothetical future props and their deployment in familiar public contexts. Futures Kiosk will be installed on the sidewalk where Washington Street meets 2nd Street at an active corner that connects City Hall, the Bartholomew County Courthouse and Veterans Memorial, and The Republic Building. This installation, and its location at the heart of civic exchange, encourages members of the public to use the kiosk to contemplate, articulate, and share future visions for Columbus. Each vision generated by members of the public, depicted as a short sentence and image, will be digitally shared with the mayor’s office with the intention that this database of visions offers decision makers inspiration and insight into the public’s desirable futures.
LA Más Los Angeles
LA-Más is a non-profit urban design organization, led by co-executive directors Elizabeth Timme and Helen Leung, that helps lower-income and underserved communities shape their own growth. Based in Los Angeles, LA-Más creates projects that are alternative models for development in neighborhoods that have been historically disinvested in and shut out of formal planning initiatives. Timmes training in architecture and design and Leungs background in public policy and planning allow LA-Más to engage thoughtfully with the communities they serve.
Thank U, Next an informal meeting space for the City of Columbus
Thank U, Next is a study in contrast and will serve as a destination for people from all parts of the city and from all backgrounds to have shared civic experiences. This project thanks civic leaders and past architects for their highly formal contributions to Washington Street, but also looks to create the next precedent for an alternative. As this area is often viewed as a hub for the middle class and wealthy, the project is an explicit and implicit invitation to working class residents to redefine Washington Street. The project also presents an urban plaza that is flexible, reconfigurable, playful, multiple, and open. Taking the form of a moveable table that adapts to diverse programming, Thank U, Next creates a sense of inclusivity to all residents and provides a place for social and cultural togetherness. The project will also host a calendar of delightful programming hosted by Columbus community organizations that will bring Washington Street to life with a bold spirit of inclusivity. Residents are encouraged to reconfigure the space and define for Columbus the potential of its urban programming.
People for Urban Progress Indianapolis
People For Urban Progress (PUP) is an Indianapolis non-profit that advances good design and civic sustainability by developing products and projects that promote connectivity, responsible reuse, and making. With founder Michael Bricker as director of public design, PUPs work is about rethinking the future of cities as it relates to the lifecycle of its materials, matching these resources with existing community needs.
Jungle Subtraction
This installation is an architecture of subtraction. By inserting a series of reflective panels and surfaces on public infrastructure along an entire city block of Washington Street, Jungle Subtraction will visually edit the pedestrian landscape. Trees, sign posts, light posts, bike racks, and trash cans will be covered in mirrored surfaces from chair height to door height, creating a reflective (subtracted) band along the street. Looking at the history of master planning of downtown Columbus, this project contemplates the point at which adding to a streetscape tries to fix something that isnt broken. In consideration of Washington Street as a place of civic exchange, how can the exercise of subtraction help a Main Street be more Main Street in the future?
PienZa Sostenible Mexico City
PienZa Sostenible is a non-profit association that promotes the research, study, analysis, implementation, monitoring, and coordination on the current situation in Mexico. Led by architect Carlos Zedillo Velasco, PienZa Sostenible helped form ReConstruir México – an initiative that brings together architects and professionals to make knowledge and techniques available for the reconstruction of affected homes in vulnerable communities affected by the devastating 2017 earthquakes in the country. More than 40 distinguished architecture offices are now building 154 houses in seven of Mexicos most damaged communities..
Las Abejas
The bee is one of the most important living beings in the world. The reduction of the bee population in the last decades is directly influencing the process of pollination, the breeding of other living beings, and the nutritional and variety of natural products. Mexico is one of the leading exporters and producers of bee and apiculture products worldwide thanks to its natural resources and environment. PienZa Sostenible promotes the protection and care of the bee as one of its priority actions as a declining bee population is a problem that affects us all. This project, Las Abejas, includes deep research into the study of bees and beehives, and the present importance of apiculture. In a model similar to the ReConstruir México initiative, the installation for Exhibit Columbus invites critically-acclaimed / internationally-renowned architects and Mexican designers to devise and build bee houses that encourage understanding of the importance of bees, while also contributing to increasing bee populations. Participants include TAX | Alberto Kalach, Tatiana Bilbao Studio, Rozana Montiel Arquitectos, and CC Arquitectos.