Letters to the Mayor
30 April 2014
Bartlett tutors Yeoryia Manolopoulou and Daisy Froud are exhibiting at the Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York in a group exhibition entitled Letters to the Mayor. The exhibition presents letters written by 50 international architects to the political leaders of ten cities around the world and showcases the work of the finalists of Storefront’s 2013 Competition of Competitions.
Drawing on the complex relationship between architecture and the political powers that influence the built environment, Letters to the Mayor expresses concerns and desires of architects and citizens in the construction of our cities. Each letter provides a space of reflection for the architect to present ideas and methodologies and express some of the concerns and desires that might contribute to action within political spheres.
Alongside these letters, the exhibition displays eighteen finalists of the Competition of Competitions, a project launched in 2013 that invited interdisciplinary teams of architects, artists, economists, philosophers, writers, and citizens at large to formulate their visions of the future of architecture and cities in the form of a competition brief. With the intention to provoke long-standing conventions of the architecture competition, the first edition of the Competition of Competitions drew more than 100 entries, which were reviewed by a jury of professionals and visionaries including Amale Andraos (Architect, Work AC), Paola Antonelli (Architecture Curator, MoMA), and Michael Sorkin (Architect and architecture critic).
Letters to the Mayor is therfore a compilation of briefs, facts, desires and dreams for the construction of our cities foundations and horizons. All competition briefs and letters will be sent to each respective City Mayor after being presented at the Storefront gallery.
Letters to the Mayor is on show at the Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York from 30 April - 24 May 2014.