The Open Workshop: New Investigations in Collective Form

New Investigations in Collective Form presents work by the Bay Area design office The Open Workshop that tests how architecture can empower the diverse voices that make up the public realm and the environments in which those voices exist and operate. Acknowledging the fluctuating conditions of the urban realm and its ecological context, this exhibition examines how collectivity can be formed today. Presented are models and drawings showcasing the office’s past projects and the concepts and theoretical explorations that guided them. A new work commissioned for this exhibition—a large-scale immersive installation that features a selection of architectural models, plants, and other artifacts arranged across an interconnected three-dimensional field made of hanging structures—invites visitors to interact by pulling or lifting modules, looking at the objects from various perspectives, and engaging with the content. By involving the user and nature in the composition, the installation explores the different ways that architectural form can create inclusive forums for collectivity.

More than 50 years have passed since the publication of Fumihiko Maki’s seminal text Investigations in Collective Form (1964), an essay that has inspired the work of The Open Workshop and this exhibition. Maki, a Pritzker Prize–winning architect who designed YBCA’s Gallery and Forum building, argued for “collective form” to address what he saw as the increasingly fragmented city and public realm. He believed that buildings should not be designed in isolation, either from other constructions or from the evolving needs of their users. Today we face our own urgent building and urban challenges—from economic inequality to a progressively fragile natural environment—that again require us to question where our collectivity resides and how form can frame what we hold in common.

The Open Workshop exhibition team
Project leads: Neeraj Bhatia, Jared Clifton (project manager), Cesar Lopez (representation)
Project team: Hayfa Al-Gwaiz, Ignacio G. Galán, Clare Hačko, Shawn Komlos, Blake Stevenson, Laura Williams

New Investigations in Collective Form features collaborations with Christoph Hesse Architects, Ignacio G. Galán / igg - office for architecture, RICA* Studio—Lorena del Rio & Iñaqui Carnicero, and SurfaceDesign Inc. The Open Workshop would like to thank the following institutions and organizations for their support in the production of this work: California College of the Arts, Cornell University, Rice University, The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, Storefront for Art and Architecture, the Architecture League of New York, Lawrence B. Anderson Award/MIT, SPUR, Our City Oakland, StoreFrontLab, and the University of Toronto. The Open Workshop team between 2013 and 2018 included Neeraj Bhatia, Haifa Al-Gwaiz, Rafael Berges, Tracy Bremer, Mary Casper, Jared Clifton, Carly Dean, Zack Glennon, Clare Hačko, Alicia Hergenroeder, Anesta Iwan, Jeremy Jacinth, Shawn Komlos, Brian Lee, Mikaela Leo, Liz Lessig, Cesar Lopez, Bella Mang, Shirin Monshipouri, Jonathan Negron, David Ornvold, Sonia Ramundi, Mauricio Soto (structural engineer), Blake Stevenson, Kurt Stubbins, Laura Williams, De Peter Yi, and Wei Zhao.

The Open Workshop: New Investigations in Collective Form is part of The City Initiative, a series of case studies by architects, designers, planners, and artists creating provocative work in the urban environment. It is organized by Martin Strickland, exhibitions associate, and Lucía Sanromán, director of visual arts.