Indiana’s annual celebration of architecture, art, design and community, Exhibit Columbus, has announced its 2020-2021 theme and key participants. In preparation for the event’s launch this autumn, co-curators Iker Gil and Mimi Zeiger have set the question ‘New Middles: From Main Street To Megalopolis, What Is The Future of The Middle City?’, and their exciting line-up includes five J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize recipients, whose studios will contribute site-specific installations throughout the city centre.
This year’s prize winners include a selection of dynamic, US-based and international practices: Dream the Combine from Minneapolis, USA, ecosistema urbano from Miami and Madrid, Spain, Future Firm from Chicago, USA, Olalekan Jeyifous from Brooklyn, USA and Sam Jacob Studio from London, UK.
The winners ‘have been selected for their commitment to the transformative power that architecture, art, and design have to improve people’s lives and make cities better places to live,’ explain the organisers. Meanwhile, ‘Columbus, Indiana, best known as a mid-century modernist destination, is an archetypal middle city – a middle amongst middles with an impressive history of socially-minded architecture designed to foster civic life.’
This idea of Midwest, mid-sized, or middle America is what the contributors are called upon to explore through a series of outdoor designs as well as a symposium, where the five Miller Prize recipients will be featured participants. In addition to the five highlighted installations, the displays will also include eleven other projects at varying scales, such as seven University Design Research Fellowships’ offerings, and two inaugural Photography Fellows’ presence, all exploring Columbus’ civic space.
Conceived to ‘activate’ downtown Columbus for a period of three months, this cultural event, in a series originally launched in 2016, has fast become a staple in the worldwide architecture calendar, as well as a fascinating addition to local and global debates on architecture, urban design, American cities – and beyond. §
