Indiana’s Exhibit Columbus festival promises to celebrate women in architecture
Last weekend a group of designers got together in Columbus, Indiana – a microcosm of extraordinary civic engagement and even more extraordinary architecture – to discuss their plans for the forthcoming Exhibit Columbus, opening in August and running through December of this year. This is the second outing for the festival, meant to bring attention to the town and particularly the way in which both those with money (and the ability to commission architecture) and those without (and the ability to enjoy it) have all, seemingly magically, united and coordinated in their care of design.
Five firms – Agency Landscape + Planning, Bryony Roberts Studio, Frida Escobedo Studio, MASS Design Group, and SO-IL – have been invited, as Miller Prize Winners, to produce specially commissioned projects to coincide with the festival’s schedule of exhibits, lectures, tours, and more. This year’s theme is dedicated to uncovering that seeming magic behind how citizens and communities can come together to support a city.
‘I do feel like it is more of a response to more global things happening,' Anne Surak, director of exhibitions says of this year’s crop of designs, which – while in their early stages – all tend towards the politically engaged and overtly polemical. ‘Being able to take this small Indiana city and explore all these things here, and become more applicable on a global scale, was where we wanted to take this exhibition.'
There is a strong female presence in this year's contributions, such as the participation of Mexican architect Frida Escobedo. Image: Frida Escobedo Studio
The model of civic engagement, particularly in the realm of architecture, first introduced by local businessman and philanthropist J. Irwin Miller and his wife Xenia Miller, is something that Surak hopes to see replicated throughout the US, perhaps inspired by the work formed around the festival. ‘It’s a model that’s helped this city thrive when other similar sized cities have not – it’s something that’s worth exploring and highlighting', she says.
While the first exhibition, held last year, was successful on its own terms, the leadership found themselves asking what else they could do. They wanted to highlight the process of community collaboration, the way in which everyone in the city seems to be equally invested in making the city better, and came up with five modes of investment: affordable housing, civic structures, educational facilities, parks, and healthcare & wellness. Each prize winner, in their own way, addresses one or more of these five avenues.
This year, the organisers also focused on female-led practices; four of the five are helmed by women. That – and a general emphasis on creating a feminist practice – led to Agency principals’ Gina Ford and Brie Hensold’s contribution, called ‘XX’: a site-specific installation comprised partially of a series of purple plants that can be arranged and rearranged to support different modes of programming, creating a public pavilion that encourages discussions and dialogue around overlooked women.
New York based SO-IL has also put forward a strong proposal. Image: SO-IL
The installation is sited at the AT&T Facility, built in 1978 and designed by Paul A. Kennon. Their project will open first, in May, and to begin they will be inviting passersby to write down, on a card, a short story about a woman who made a difference their lives. ‘Women are erased' in architectural history, Ford points out. Historically, women have often been ‘photoshopped' out of group portraits; consider Denise Scott Brown’s omission from her partner Robert Venturi’s Pritzker Prize. ‘Our project is about photoshopping women back in,' Ford says. It’s a quick metaphor, but the project’s use of the strength of a simple concept and the accessibility of an approachable landscape design renders it especially powerful.
Their installation is particularly moving because of the combination of formal representation – the double ‘X'’s refer to crossing something out – and narrative agenda – their presence refers to adding something back in. It makes sense on an intellectual level and also a purely experiential one, and everyone is optimistic about the project’s capacity to continue a conversation about women’s roles in architecture – a conversation that’s been going on for decades but that hit a fever pitch last year.
‘This is something that hopefully will stay with people as they get older,' Surak says of this year’s approach. ‘You never know when someone’s exposure to art or architecture will be that moment when they decide it’s an important thing in life.'
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
INFORMATION
For more information visit the website of Exhibit Columbus
-
Explore Cornwall's cosiest coffee shops
Cornwall is known for its natural beauty and stunning landscape, here is our pick of coffee shops to enjoy the views and refuel
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Maude’s Brâncuși-inspired sex toys go on display in a new Paris exhibition
Maude’s design-led vibrators are now on display at Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, as part of ‘Private Lives: From the Bedroom to Social Media’. Brand founder Éva Goicochea talks to Wallpaper* about partnering with the museum and opening up cultural conversations around sex
By India Birgitta Jarvis Published
-
‘I was captivated by the idea of merging two iconic brands’: Nigo on his 1990s-inspired collaboration with Moncler and Mercedes-Benz
Unveiled at Moncler’s ‘The City of Genius’ event in Shanghai this past weekend, Japanese fashion designer Nigo unpacks his three-way collaboration with Moncler and Mercedes-Benz, which includes a play on the G-Class alongside a fashion collection in his eclectic style
By Jack Moss Published
-
First look: step inside 144 Vanderbilt, Tankhouse and SO-IL’s new Brooklyn project
The first finished duplex inside Tankhouse and SO-IL’s 144 Vanderbilt in Fort Greene is a hyper-local design gallery curated by Brooklyn studio General Assembly
By Léa Teuscher Published
-
Tour Ray's Seagram Building HQ, an ode to art and modernism in New York City
Real estate venture Ray’s Seagram Building HQ in New York is a homage to corporate modernism
By Diana Budds Published
-
Populus by Studio Gang, the ‘first carbon positive hotel in the US’ takes root in Denver
Populus by Studio Gang opens in Denver, offering a hotel with a distinctive, organic façade and strong sustainability credentials
By Siska Lyssens Published
-
This Californian home offers the unexpected through ‘deconstructed’ desert living
Gardens & Villas, a home in La Quinta, California, brings contemporary luxury to its desert setting through a collaboration between architects Andrew McClure and Christopher McLean
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
First look inside 62 Reade Street, a clock factory turned family home
62 Reade Street, a boutique New York residential project by architects ODA, unveils its first apartment interior, styled courtesy of Hovey Design
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Paul Rudolph at The Met: ‘from Christmas lights to megastructures’
‘Materialized Space: The Architecture of Paul Rudolph’ opens at the Met in New York, exploring the modernist master's work through a feast of an exhibition
By Stephanie Murg Published
-
Jewel Box is a Californian project of small scale and big impact
Jewel Box by Red Dot Studio is the reimagining of a Californian 20th-century gem through a creative addition
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Germane Barnes exhibition explores notions of classical architecture and identity
Germane Barnes exhibition 'Columnar Disorder' opens at the Art Institute of Chicago
By Ellie Stathaki Published