Into the Open: Positioning Practice

Organized by:
Slought Foundation, Parc Foundation

Commissioner:
William Menking

Curators:
William Menking, Aaron Levy, Andrew Sturm

Into the Open: Positioning Practice focused on the means by which architects reclaim their role in shaping community and the built environment, to expand understanding of American architectural practice and its relationship to civic participation. It presented installations, video projections, drawings, photographs and artifacts of the American landscape of buildings, open spaces, parks, civic spaces, urban housing units and other elements, to explore how architects meet the challenge of creating new work in light of contemporary design conditions. It addressed factors challenging traditional methods of architecture, such as shifting socio-cultural demographics, changing geo-political boundaries, uneven economic development, and the explosion of migration and urbanization, as it advocates for an expanded conception of architectural practice and responsibilities. Sixteen architects, all of whom actively engage communities in their work on various levels, demonstrated architectural responses to social and environmental issues explored in the exhibition.