2023 EXHIBITION

Furnishing Utopia 5.0: PUBLIC ACCESS

Furnishing Utopia returns to NYCxDesign this May, 2023 to pose a foundational question to the design world: How can we expand our creative practices through acts of care and empathy?

In search of new answers to this question, Furnishing Utopia created an open prompt inviting a group of independent creative minds: Starting with a simple act of presence and noticing, create a public installation that provokes an act of sharing in one’s neighborhood.

The group drew inspiration from the communal values of the Shakers as well as the counter-cultural DIY movement of the 60’s and 70’s - The Whole Earth Catalog, Enzo Mari's Autoprogettazione, Victor Papanek’s Nomadic Furniture, Ken Issacs’ etc. These past examples represented ideas for democratization of design that Furnishing Utopia aims to rekindle and expand upon.

This debut installment of "PUBLIC ACCESS" features works from 37 international designers, from 19 cities, 12 countries exploring ways in which design can inspire communal acts of sharing. The resulting work is an evolving array of offerings designed and built in situ - some sharing community resources, some connecting with nature, or others igniting a sense of wonderment. All respond to their unique locations with an invitation for the public to engage freely.

One Love Community Living Fridge sketch by One Love Community

VISIT PUBLIC ACCESS FOR MORE INFO

OUR MISSION

We are a global collective of creatives exploring how design values are interconnected across cultures and time. By understanding the past, and engaging with the present, we imagine more perfect ways of living for the future.

OUR APPROACH

We connect designers to participate in research workshop exploring various sites working with cultural and educational institutions to gain a deeper understanding of design culture and history.

LEARNING FROM THE PAST
Through immersive explorations of historical, cultural and creative movements and places to gain deeper perspectives.
ENGAGING WITH THE PRESENT
We create objects, exhibitions and events to facilitate engagement
between designers, institutions, industry and the public.
DESIGNING FOR THE FUTURE
We apply optimism and a holistic approach to design that
transcends time and obsolescence, provoke the status quo in the
collective pursuit of a more perfect way of life.

OUR METHOD

We organize research workshop working with cultural and educational institutions to gain a deeper understanding of everything. The immersive experience brings about in-depth conversations and dialogue between designers, curators and instructors.

HANCOCK SHAKER VILLAGE, 2015
The inaugural Furnishing Utopia workshop, which kickstarted the project and collective as a whole, took place at the Hancock Shaker Village in Massachusetts.
MOUNT LEBANON SHAKER VILLAGE, 2016-2018
Returning several times to the Shaker Village with the expanding group of designers, the archival research has expanded to neighboring communities such as Mount Lebanon.
AMERICAN MODERNISM - MIDWEST TOUR, 2019
Expanding our investigative scope, our latest workshop was held in the midwestern region of the United States, with a specific focus on the birth of American Modernism.