Humans have been enshrining and memorializing their dead for millennia. While forms and rituals vary widely across cultures and religions, we are nonetheless reacting to similar desires: memorializing a life, coping with loss, religious symbolism, returning to nature, etc.
The realities of the world today have imposed additional restrictions and opportunities on internment: rapid population growth, densifying urban areas, limited space, environmental concerns, and digitization—all factors that could lead architects to reimagine our own exit.
Exit Architecture is a speculative look at designing for the afterlife in all of its potential architectural and design forms, and new ways of marking our exit. This open call for exhibition projects seeks proposals for physical artifacts that present a critical, projective, and speculative look at the present and future of this realm of design. Projects may be personal and individual examples of design for the hereafter, or propose approaches that affect or can be adopted by many.
Exit Architecture is curated by Warren James, Julia van den Hout, and Kyle May as the first curated exhibition organized by the Art Omi: Architecture program. It will be on view at the Newmark Gallery in the Benenson Center located at the Art Omi’s 200-acre campus from January 12 to March 3, 2019, and available to travel thereafter starting March 15, 2019.
How to Submit
Please submit two PDFs for review by the curators:
—a 1-4 page PDF summary of the project you propose for the exhibit, including 3 supporting images. Your proposal must include any estimates of production, shipping, or other related expenses for the exhibition of the work. The PDF file must be labeled: Proposal_LastName.pdf
—a 1-4 page PDF of a current CV. The PDF file must be labeled: CV_LastName.pdf
Please keep the email size under 10MB. Do not submit: links to Google Drive or equal, PowerPoint presentations, or loose image files—these will not be considered nor viewed.
This Open Call for Projects/Designs is open to architects (and architectural teams) from any part of the world.
Your CV must clearly list details on graduating degree in architecture. Space is very limited and a diverse and international group is sought, consistent with Art Omi mission and programs and aligning with the vision of the Art Omi: Architecture program.
Deadline for proposals is August 31, 2018 by 11:59pm EST.
Submit PDFs via email to [email protected]
About Art Omi: Architecture: The Art Omi: Architecture program facilitates projects by architects exploring the intersection of architecture, art, and landscape. Through curated exhibitions in the Architecture Fields and the Benenson Center galleries and an annual residency program, Art Omi: Architecture actively engages with, and introduces the work of, architects and designers at the forefront of experimentation, innovation, and exploration. The vision for Art Omi: Architecture is to create a fusion of natural and architectural resources for visitors. It is a sanctuary where the public can experience a diversity of architectural installations spread across a myriad of natural ecosystems and designed landscapes on the Architecture grounds. The result is a new category of hybrid parkland that facilitates an ongoing dialogue on the interconnectivity between nature, culture, art and architecture.