Housing the Human Launches 5 Design Prototypes

Article by Faye Campbell // Sept. 17, 2019

Housing the Human, a collaboration between five European organizations and institutions, will open October 18th at Radialsystem. The two-day festival will showcase five selected prototypes by participating architects, designers and industry professionals—Certain Measures, Mae-Ling Lokko, Simone C Niquille/Technoflesh, Lucia Tahan and Dasha Tsapenko—which address the future of human living, shared resources and collective spaces.

Mae-Ling Yokko: Photo in Lab, 2019 // Image courtesy of Mae-Ling Yokko and Housing the Human

These final prototypes consist of interactive room-spanning installations, films and performances. The participants combine research and design to explore the possibilities of living and social coexistence inherent within communal space and shared resources.

Among these prototypes is ‘Agrocologies’ by Mae-Ling Lokko, where the artist offers new visions of upcycling, concentrating on the transformation of food waste into compostable, biodegradable building material and household items. ‘Agrocologies’ will stage live performances, to present how this form of upcycling can be assimilated into everyday life through new social and domestic behaviours.

Berlin Artlink, "Lovaratory" by Dasha Tsapenko

Dasha Tsapenko: “Lovaratory” (detail), 2019 // Photo by Fransesco Martello, Courtesy of Housing the Human

Dasha Tsapenko’s project ‘Lovaratory’ invites visitors to explore a usable living space, which accommodates a myriad of romantic and social relationships, adjusted to the need of each individual user.

Housing the Human includes guided tours, performances and talks by participants. The public is also invited to engage in a role-playing game entitled ‘After Money,’ designed by the Urban Works Agency of the California College of the Arts, specifically for Housing the Humans. Within this strategy game, players aim to achieve effective and sustainable measures for housing development, through urban planning projects and political and economic negotiation and transactions.

Certain Measures (installation view), 2019 // Photo by Fransesco Martello, Courtesy of Housing the Human

‘ARCH+ features’ will also hold a conversation between co-publisher Anh-Linh Ngo and architecture curator James Taylor-Foster, discussing trans-disciplinary research and practical futurology.