IDK

'Low-cost exhibition design for a research project by Theatrum Mundi'
Designing Politics was a three-year experiment by Theatrum Mundi testing the limits of design when faced with the provocative brief of designing for a political ideal. Each year an ideas challenge posed a different question in a different city. In New York in 2014, Theatrum Mundi asked whether urban design interventions can stimulate the use of the First Amendment protecting free speech in public. In London in 2015, they called for the design of systems and situations through which new urban commons could be built. In Rio de Janeiro in 2016, they asked whether an aesthetics of respect can be designed, and what the implications would be for the politics of the city. On each occasion, an open call invited interdisciplinary teams from across the performing and visual arts, and the built environment disciplines to send in propositional responses. This exhibition learned from the three prior years' exhibitions to reflect upon the relationship between design, politics and the city. IDK worked with Theatrum Mundi to design a low-cost exhibition presenting this body of research at the London School of Economics. A colour coded grid used the gallery's linear wall space to present the diverse content re-deployed as a huge matrix of coloured paper. Visitors were given randomised coordinates, leading them on fresh, visit-specific journeys through the publications.


Project: Designing Politics, The London School of Economics
Location: London
Year: 2018
Type: Museum & Culture
Collaborators: Theatrum Mundi