By DAWN ELARDO
Guggenheim in collaboration with BMW are launching a project they call, BMW Guggenheim Lab (BGL), which will be plotted on Houston between first and second avenues in New York, open until August 3 to October 16, 2011.
"It's a mixture of an urban think tank, community center, and a gathering space," described Maria Nicator, an Assistant Curator at the Guggenheim Museum. The "mobile laboratory," as they call it, will set up shop starting in New York followed by eight other major cities worldwide in a span of six years.
Guggenheim in collaboration with BMW are launching a project they call, BMW Guggenheim Lab (BGL), which will be plotted on Houston between first and second avenues in New York, open until August 3 to October 16, 2011.
"It's a mixture of an urban think tank, community center, and a gathering space," described Maria Nicator, an Assistant Curator at the Guggenheim Museum. The "mobile laboratory," as they call it, will set up shop starting in New York followed by eight other major cities worldwide in a span of six years.
The program will be split in three cycles: the first being in New York, then Berlin, and finally in an undisclosed city in Asia. The goal of each cycle is to have enough material to create an interesting exhibition that will essentially be a collection of suggestions and solutions--for how the city utilizes space—from a large variation of community members coming from different disciplines within that given city.
"Lab will collect aspiring ideas for design and urban life," says David van der Leer, the Assistant of Architecture & Urban Studies in this Guggenheim undertaking. The theme of BGL's Cycle 1 is Confronting Comfort: "an installation exploring how the interventions and innovations that decentralize, decelerate, localize, and democratize New Yorkers can reinvent urbanity, creating a more adaptable and sustainable version of comfort."–BGL Team.
Although it is unclear how the BGL Project, will affect and implement their collected proposals on spatial issues cities face—(as there's no mention on how the're actually working with respective city officials in rolling out the results of the program), what is clear is that BMW will fund the project (a marketing opportunity that will attempt to help reconcile urban growth), and Guggenheim will provide the staff team who will run and govern the program—which will ultimately produce three exhibitions within their six year commitment.
"Lab will collect aspiring ideas for design and urban life," says David van der Leer, the Assistant of Architecture & Urban Studies in this Guggenheim undertaking. The theme of BGL's Cycle 1 is Confronting Comfort: "an installation exploring how the interventions and innovations that decentralize, decelerate, localize, and democratize New Yorkers can reinvent urbanity, creating a more adaptable and sustainable version of comfort."–BGL Team.
The BMW Guggenheim Lab will provide a free public space and outdoor area—holding all different types of events—from discussions, lectures, performances, film screenings, workshops, presentations, to taking part of research and experiments. The lab include a cafe as well, to complete the social gathering vibe.
Although it is unclear how the BGL Project, will affect and implement their collected proposals on spatial issues cities face—(as there's no mention on how the're actually working with respective city officials in rolling out the results of the program), what is clear is that BMW will fund the project (a marketing opportunity that will attempt to help reconcile urban growth), and Guggenheim will provide the staff team who will run and govern the program—which will ultimately produce three exhibitions within their six year commitment.
Aside from the aforementioned assistant curators, the BGL committee will consist of four teams led by four men and one woman who've been nominated by the Guggenheim institution. They are the following (featured right on video is Olatunbosum Obayomi):
- Omar Freilla (Environmental Justice Activist, Cooperative Developer, and Founder and Coordinator of Green Worker Cooperatives, Bronx, New York, USA)
- Elma van Boxel and Kristian Koreman (Architects and Urbanists, Founders of ZUS [Zones Urbaines Sensibles], Rotterdam, Netherlands)
- Olatunbosun Obayomi (Microbiologist and Inventor, Lagos, Nigeria)
- Charles Montgomery (Journalist and Urban Experimentalist, Vancouver, Canada)
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