Article by Alice Bardos in Berlin // Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016
The mission of this open call for artists: to create architecture without architects. To envision a political process of design that addresses communal needs.
In a contemporary society that is over-designed, over-securitized, over-rationalized and privatized, On/Off invites visionaries to the battlefield of public space. Many architects and designers hack and tweak the city by transforming it in unexpected ways. On/Off wants to consider the fenced, locked, skate-proofed, sit-proofed, places sleep-proofed, places and call attention to the power dynamic of which they are indicative.
How? By building a Co-Machine.
On/Off: Open Call For Artists For Co-Machines: Mobile Disruptive Architectures, 2016 // Courtesy of On/Off
What are Co-Machines? They are mobile, informal micro-structures that are parasitic or symbiotic in our urban eco-system. Their job is to disrupt the overbearing market values to create alternative realities by exploiting the tipping points in political and economic systems. They aim to inspire people to imagine a different world, whether it be a utopic or dystopic one. Co-Machines call attention to the invisible ways our cities are being manipulated by often overlooked zoning-laws, traffic laws, advertising, architects, graffiti-writers, skateboarders, conflicts, canals, planners.
If you’ve got any designs and descriptions for these kinds of subversive structures, you can submit them by March 31st to be included in the Co-machine Open-Source Catalogue.
Up to 25 designs will contacted and invited to be featured in an exhibition where On/Off will build the GUERRILLA PRINTING PRESS pictured. This MOBILE PRESS will allow for visitors to print and bind a copy of the Co-Machine Open-Source Catalogue. For more information about the project visit On/Off’s website.
