How would you describe your ideal city? – Hamideh Rimaz, Adapt Transform co-curator
This is Adapt Transform Stories, a co-created digital series exploring community responses to urban design and creativity. Part of the current Adapt Transform exhibition, in partnership with Oxford Brookes University, this week we’re exploring International stories of urban spaces, told through artworks in the exhibition.
Jan-Hendrik Höhnk, The Red Carpet, 2019. Adapt Transform, installation view at Modern Art Oxford, 2022. Photo by Ben Westoby
Two research projects in Adapt Transform show the fascinating differences in the design and use of cities culturally and historically. German-born graduate in Sustainable Urban Development at the University of Oxford, Jan-Hendrik Höhnk presents The Red Carpet (2019), a social network architecture proposal which shows us what is possible, when the act of social interactions and local experiences unite public spaces. Described by Höhnk as “a celebration of social interaction,” the project envisages an architecture which is based on the convergence of goods, people, and ideas and, “the innovative potential arising from it.”
Thomas Nicolaou, Trainscapes and their cities, 2022. Adapt Transform, installation view at Modern Art Oxford, 2022. Photo by Ben Westoby.
The work of Oxford based artist, graphic designer, and tutor Thomas Nicolaou documents the public space of two university cities, their public spaces, and access for citizens. Nicolaou tells us the story behind the work, Trainscapes and their cities (2022), where an international train journey inspired a new perspective on Oxford’s public spaces. “I proposed to travel from Oxford Parkway to Lecce in Italy” Nicolaou says, “My proposal was to carry out ‘city or trainscapes’ documentation … I was curious to see if anything could be borrowed en route from Lyon, Bologna, and Lecce, and perhaps introduced to Oxford. Lockdown forced a change in behaviour and the public’s appetite for outdoor seating. Access to public space has been accommodated in Oxford’s city centre streets, but what more could be done?”
Oxford Resilient Buildings and Landscapes Lab (OxRBL), Lab in Your Pocket, 2019. Adapt Transform, installation view at Modern Art Oxford, 2022. Photo by Ben Westoby.
Adapt Transform artists, Dr Katrin Wilhelm and Dr Sterling MacKinnon are representatives of the Oxford Resilient Buildings and Landscapes Lab (OxRBL). The duo present an interactive digital work, Lab in Your Pocket (2019), which invites audiences to support their aim to diversify and decolonise public structures by engaging with a digital app. “Lab in Your Pocket,” they explain, “is an ongoing research effort aiming to develop citizen science tools which seek to diversify public heritage spaces through digital engagements.” Visitors to Adapt Transform can interact with a digital presentation of heritage sites and historic environments, considering their present and future role in conversations surrounding the future of urban space.
Adapt Transform explores our collective experiences of urban design, both locally and internationally. These different research projects offer diverse perspectives on how we use cities, and how the design of the cityscape impacts the way we all live.
Follow Adapt Transform Stories next week, where our focus will be on stories of Transformation told through the artworks in Adapt Transform.
You can visit the exhibition Adapt Transform across two sites – Modern Art Oxford until 18 September and The Glass Tank Gallery at Oxford Brookes University until 11 September.
Want to get involved in Adapt Transform Stories? How would you describe your ideal city? Sign up to MAO Studio and leave a comment to join in the conversation.