STOREFRONTFOR ART AND ARCHITECTURE

LETTERS TO THE MAYOR

As a civic figure, the architect has the privilege and responsibility to articulate and translate the collective aspirations of society, and specifically of those not able to sit at the decision-making tables.

Throughout history, architects have engaged with this responsibility and the structures of economic, political and cultural power in different ways and with varying degrees of success. With the rise of globalization and the homogenization of the contempo-rary city, the role of the architect in the political arena has often been relegated to answering questions that others have asked. While designing the next economically driven cultural-iconic-touristic object, an increasing amount of both architects and with them, politicians, have forgotten the ethics that should be associated with archi-tectural practice and the potential of design in the construction of public life.

Eva Franch Chief Curator and Executive Director

Storefront for Art and Architecture

LETTERS TO THE MAYOR

An itinerant exhibition in the form of letters written by architects to their mayors, “Letters to the Mayor” brings innovative ideas and visions of the city closer to the decision-makers, and vice versa.

“Letters to the Mayor” started in New York City in 2014 with a collection of letters from a series of international architects writing to their respective Mayors.

Subsequent iterations, organized in partnership with local institutions and groups, bring relevant local and international voices onto the desks of elected officials and into the public consciousness focusing around particular cities as a way to explore specific territories. Recent and upcoming editions include Panama City, Bogota and Buenos Aires.

LETTERS TO THE MAYOR

Storefront is looking for partner institutions in 25 cities around the world to provide a compre-hensive archive of Letters to the Mayor that will be published as a catalog in 2018. Interested organizations should consider the following aspects for the development of the project:

I. SPACE. The purpose of the project is to provide a public forum for discussion. The exhibition should be in public view for at least a month and should be free and open to everyone.

II. NETWORK. The partnering organization needs to have a vast network and a comprehen-sive list of architects within a particular city or region. Each exhibition presents 50 letters, what requires a network of more than 100 architects. The Organzing Partner and the Storefront Curatorial team will jointly discuss and select the list of participants based on diversity and excellence.

III. DESIGN. Each iteration of the exhibition invites local designers to recasts anew three dif-ferent elements for the exhibition display that should be documented and will be part of the exhibition: a Poster, a Wallpaper, and a Mayoral and Architects Desk. The Organzing Partner and the Storefront Curatorial team will jointly discuss and select the designer/s involved in the design process.

IV. LOGISTICS. The organizing partner should have the logistical capability to send during the exhibition period the fifty letters to their respective mayors accompanied with a letter explain-ing the history of the project and the organizations involved. All letters in the exhibition should be scanned and sent to Storefront for Art and Architecture before the end of the exhibition. The partnering organization might keep the originals or might decide to send them to Store-front to be included in the Storefront Archive.

PARTNERSHIPS

LETTERS TO THE MAYOR 1.0STOREFRONT FOR ART AND ARCHITECTURE

April 30 - May 24, 2014Storefront for Art and Architecture

Letters to the Mayor launched in New York presenting fifty letters written by international architects to the political leaders of more than 20 cities around the world.

Participants: Ellie Abrons (Ann Arbor), Emily Abruzzo (New York), Nora Akawi (Jerusalem), Azra Akšamija (Sarajevo), Zahra Ali Baba (Kuwait City), Suad Amiry (Ramallah), Arielle Assouline-Lichten (New York), Ana Dana Beros (Zagreb), Bronwyn Breitner, (New York), Alessandra Cianchetta (Paris), Odile Decq (Paris), Sonja Duempelmann (Berlin), Keller Easterling (new York), Pia Ednie-Brown, Frida Escobedo (mexico DF), Daniela Fabricius (New York), Yvonne Farrell (Dublin), Daisy Froud (London), Rosalie Genevro (New York), Cristina Goberna (New York), Selva Gürdogan (Istanbul), Greta Hansen (New York), Roisin Heneghan (Dublin), Joyce Hwang (Buffalo), Catherine Ingraham (New York), Julia King (Delhi), María Langarita (Madrid), Alexandra Lange New York), Ana María León Crespo (Guayaquil), Ariane Lourie Harrison (New York), Jing Liu (New York), Yeoryia Manolopoulou (London), Mitch McEwen (New York), Shelley McNamara (Dublin) , Meredith Miller (New York), Elizabeth O’Donnell (new York), Marina Otero (New York), Mariana Pestana (Lisbon), Rocío Pina (Madrid), Anna Puigjaner (Barcelona), Danielle Rago Los Angeles), Suchi Reddy (New York), Dagmar Richter (New York), Deborah Schneiderman and Scott Lizama (New York), Annabelle Selldorf (New York), Maria Smith (London), Michael Sorkin (New York), Esther Sperber (New York), Benedetta Tagliabue (Barcelona), Martha Thorne (Madrid), Nathalie de Vries (Schiedam), Marion Weiss New York), Sarah Whiting (Houston), Mabel Wilson (New York), Kim Yao (New York), Marisa Yiu (Hong Kong), Mimi Zeiger (Los Angeles), Zoka Zola (Chicago).

Design Team: Poster by Lauren Francescone, Mayoral/Architect Office by Piotr Chizinski, Wallpaper by VOUTSA

Curatorial Team: Eva Franch i Gilabert and Carlos Mínguez Carrasco

INVITATION LETTER  

Board of Directors Charles Renfro, President Campbell Hyers, Vice President R. Douglass Rice, Treasurer Lauren Kogod, Secretary

Carlos Brillembourg Belmont Freeman Hal Foster Terence Gower James von Klemperer Marc Kushner Steven T. Incontro Michael Manfredi William Menking Margery Perlmutter Linda Pollak Robert M. Rubin Sylvia J. Smith Artur Walther Mabel Wilson Karen Wong

Director's Council Kyong Park, Founder Shirin Neshat Sarah Herda Joseph Grima Board of Advisors Kent Barwick Stefano Boeri Beatriz Colomina Peter Cook Chris Dercon Elizabeth Diller Claudia Gould Dan Graham Peter Guggenheimer Richard Haas Brooke Hodge Steven Holl Steven Johnson Toyo Ito Mary Jane Jacob Mary Miss Antoni Muntadas Shirin Neshat Hans Ulrich Obrist Lucio Pozzi Frederieke Taylor Anthony Vidler James Wines

Dear Martha, We would like to invite you to participate in Storefront for Art and Architecture’s upcoming exhibition, “Letters to the Mayor,” which will open on April 18, 2014. We are inviting you and a selected group of architects around the world to write a letter to the Mayor of your city of origin or residence articulating some of the pressing questions and desires that, as an architect, you believe play an important role in understanding the political dimensions and decisions that drive the making of cities and territories. The letter must be submitted on US letter size paper (8.5” x11”). There is no limit to the length or brevity of the letter. Letters will be exhibited at the Storefront gallery in New York from April 19th to May 21st with an opening reception on April 18th at 7pm. Texts may be considered as part of a future publication with Lars Müller Publishers in fall 2014. All texts must be sent as a doc and pdf file to Carlos Mínguez Carrasco at cmc@storefrontnews.org by April 10th. I hope you will accept this invitation. If you do, please send me an email and Zeynep Göksel will shortly be in touch with you in order to compile some information for the web and press packages. Thanks again for your time and consideration and I hope to have you join us in this act of architectural communication. Kind regards, Eva Franch i Gilabert Director  

Invitation letter

SUBMITTED LETTERS

10 April 2014 Dear Madame Mayor of Madrid, Ana Botella: Having coincided with you on a number of occasions, I am well aware of your appreciation for the city of Madrid. However, enthusiasm must be supported by a clear and far-reaching vision for a city’s role and its future. Without a doubt, the city means different things to different people and groups. However, there should be an understanding of what makes our city unique and a definition that can resonate with residents and visitors alike. It is a shared vision that is supported by public and private actions over time. It is a concept for the city in which residents can take pride. A shared vision comes about through real dialogue with citizens, stakeholder groups, representatives, institutions and others to chart a compelling path for the future that can be witnessed in political action, economic measures and in the built environment of Madrid. It's not an easy or a short term challenge. Strategies are needed now with implementation following a medium/long term horizon. Architects, designers and urban planners can assist with strategic plans that reflect the aspirations of a city and suggest innovative ways to realize them within the physical realm. Madrid needs to have a vibrant vision for its future, based not just on its legacy or its position as capital of Spain, but rather on creative ideas, inclusiveness and imagination. Sincerely,

Martha Thorne Executive Director Pritzker Architecture Prize Associate Dean IE School of Architecture and Design Madrid, Spain

Martha Thorne, Letter to the Mayor of Madrid, SpainJulia King, Letter to the Mayor of Dehli, India

April 11th 2014

To the next Chief Minister of Delhi, whoever you may be

Good luck, may you last longer than 49 days*.

During the last few years I have lived in Delhi I have come to detest the increasingly ubiquitous shopping malls that scour the landscape. Aside from the practical damage caused by these large, socially homogeneous, air-conditioned monoliths and the horrible aesthetic they demonstrate, what they represent leaves a sour taste in my mouth. These buildings are a physical manifestation of global capital and the huge amounts of money that fly around our planet, and land in our urban landscape without an appreciation for their context. They aren’t just emblematic of bad city but also bad capitalism.

Their design language aspires to be that of “high architecture”, “signature buildings”, and “world class cities”. But there is nothing world class about them – they are empty, vacuous symbols of short-termism, consumerism, insulated from all local context, incubators of paranoia, and pods of gentrification. Such architecture is part of a process which is selling a western dream that is even now failing in its birthplace.

It is too simple just to see Delhi as divided between opulence and poverty, yet the form of city-making represented by the malls does stem from a vision of the metropolis as an elite discourse. It is a manifestation of a place divided by extreme physical and visual inequalities, where modern economics and development have forsaken empathy and inclusion.

Your office has more or less given up the responsibility of projecting an idea of the city, and social transformation. Whatever happened to the vision symbolised by post-independence projects like Chandigarh, for example? Today your office is concerned with fly-overs, highways, and airports; yes, these are all useful for a metropolis to function, but city-making without the burden of facilitating citizenship or place-making, does not provide a recipe for building a “real” city.

The task that lies ahead of you is very simple, and extremely complicated. It is to close the gap between “marketised” systems of government administration, service provision and planning, and the increasingly marginalised populations which are integral to these systems – and simultaneously excluded.

»

JUL IA K ING Panchsheel EnclaveNew Delhi www.incrementalcity.wordpress.com www.julia-king.com julia@julia-king.com

@atjuliaking

*The last Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, a protest leader who was vaulted into the top post of Delhi’s city government after a startling electoral victory, resigned from his seat after just 49 days in office, saying his flagship anticorruption initiative was being stonewalled by legislators from India’s two well-established parties – BJP and Congress.

SUBMITTED LETTERS

Keller Easterling, Letter to the Mayor of New York, USA Suad Amiry, Letter to the Mayor of Ramallah, Palestine

  1  

A  Letter  to  the  Mayor  of  My  City  Ramallah,  Palestine          Sunny  and  Brisk  Typical  of  San  Francisco    Homeless  and  tourists    Side  by  side  Tourists  standing  in  a  long  long  line    Homeless  hanging  around  for  long  Perhaps  too  long      I,  in  the  tourists’  line,  waiting  for  infamous  cable  car  The  icon  of  the  City  of  San  Francisco    As  I  waited  in  a  long,  long  line,  I  thought  of  you,  my  city,  Ramallah    I  also  thought  of  you  naughty  kids  of  Palestine    No  not  because  of  the  homelessness  close  to  the  Silicon  Valley    Nor  because  of  the  Homelandlessness  of  the  People  of  Palestine    Or  their  statelessness    I  thought  of  You  Ramallah    No  not  because  of  the  long  line  of  tourists  you  also  could  have  had  Had  it  not  been  for  the  many  check  points  that  strangle  you    The  high  concrete  wall  that  surrounds  you    And  the  red  Hebrew  signs  warning  tourists  from  coming  close  to  you      Ramallah    In  spite  of  your  oppression  In  spite  of  your  occupation  In  spite  of  your  broken  economy  And  In  spite  of  you  stricken  poverty  and  deprivation,  and,  and  In  spite  all,  somehow,  your  humanity  prevailed  You  lovingly  gave  each  and  every  one  of  your  citizens  a  roof  over  the  heads    Something  neither  the  City  of  San  Francisco          Nor  the  Silicon  Valley  gave  to  its  homeless    As  I  stood  in  the  long  line  of  tourists,  from  the  “Bay  City  Guide”  I  learned  about  the  tragic  story  that  brought  about  the  cable  cars  of  San  Francisco:    “The  cable  car  was  introduced  to  San  Francisco  on  August  2,  1873.  Wire-­‐  cable  manufacture  Andrew  Hallidie  conceived  the  idea  after  witnessing  an  accident  in  which  a  horse-­‐drawn  carriage  faltered  and  rolled  backward  downhill  dragging  the  horses  behind  it”      Saddened  by  the  tragic  horses’  incident,    

SUBMITTED LETTERS

Arielle Assouline-Lichten, Letter to the Mayor of New York, USA Ana María León, Letter to the Mayor of Guayaquil, Ecuador

#CartaNebot 1

April 20, 2014

Mr.Jaime Nebot SaadiM.I. Municipalidad de GuayaquilGuayaquil, Ecuador

Dear Mr. Mayor,

I write in the name of many people from Guayaquil that sent me their concerns, ideas, and proposals for our dear city. On March 24, I made a call through the website gkillcity.com, responding to a proposal from the Storefront for Art and Architecture, in New York. I called for contributions via Tweeter using the hashtag #CartaNebot. The response was fantastic, and proves the great desire of our fellow citizens to actively participate in the progress of our city.

Before anything, we give you thanks for your dedication and service to the city. Every public charge implies a service vocation and yours is beyond question. The proposals we make here all come from our love for the city and our wish to project the best path for its future. Even though your administration has led our city for many years, we see the start of a new electoral period as an opportunity to revise the roadmap and talk about what type of city we want to be, how we want to grow, and how we’re going to do it.

To be precise, we discuss it around six interrelated topics: Aperture, Environment, Transportation, Infrastructure, Culture, and Vision:

1. Aperture

Our city’s wealth is in its diversity. It’s something we should celebrate and promote. One of the great virtues of good public spaces is that they allow us to know and tolerate differences, while preserving our own individuality. We want that city culture, a culture that promotes respect and tolerance to different opinions, and that respects, before everything else, the human rights of all. It is an aperture that starts with public space: less fences and gates and more tolerance to informal vendors, who work so much for our city. Promoting inclusion is difficult in a city that for many years was immersed in chaos, but it’s the next step in a plan towards acknowledging diversity as an advantage.

Aperture is also sought at the administrative level: We ask for administrative improvements in the public service at City Hall: a dedicated single counter to start small businesses, training public employees for better attention, and reengineering processes. We would like open contests for public architecture projects.

I echo the ideas of architect Teddy Cruz and the former mayor of Bogotá, Antanas Mockus, to argue that there is no transformation of the city without a transformation of city culture. The public spaces of our city have the potential to create this culture: space educates, like Guayaquilean architect Valentina Brevi has also argued. We want spaces that educate towards aperture, tolerance, and the acceptance of differences.

POSTER

Letters to the Mayor Newsprint, designed by Lauren Francescone and mailed to 4,000 Storefront Members and Friends.

▪Taking Buildings DownINC_A

▪The Discreet ArchitectLocal Provision Studio [Valeria Federighi, Janet Yoon]

▪Open Source Open Space: Hacking the Built EnvironmentBoot/Trunk [Nicole Lindahl, Louise Mackie, Samantha Senn]

▪The City is The Room. The Room is The City.FormFictionFormat [Elena Palacios Carral, Manijeh Verghese]

▪NO TITLES, A Campaign for Illegal ArchitectureGroundLAB [Sean Billy Kizy, Sara Lum, Rakia Seaborn, Nicholas Sharma]

▪Nature, Error, BabiesMetonymy’s Architecture [Tom Nurmi, Jeffrey Dunn, Meagan Lehr, Erika Wilder]

▪Deploy Yourself, Not Your DesignsThe Coalition for the Improvement of Refugee Camps [Mary Monroe, Lee Dykxhoorn]

▪dePOLITIsign: An open call for the redesign of a USCIS office [Min Chen, Kristin Enright]

▪Amazonia 2020Civic Projects [Kati Rubinyi, Deborah Richmond, Michael Powell, Ewan E. Branda]

▪The Next SuburbThe Thirteenth Hour [Rafi Segal, Alte Daberiti, Annie Lopoe]

▪Off-the-Radar: The Architecture of Non-Existing SpaceMitnick-Roddier [Mireille Roddier, Keith Mitnick]

▪Labyrinthgrey_matter(s) [Annie Charleston, William McCommon, Megan McDonough, Shota Vashakmadze]

▪ReDesign the Discipline of ArchitectureThe Architecture Lobby

▪BLISS: Better Living through Intuitive Soft SurveillanceYeadon Space Agency

▪Future FactoryGretchen Wilkins [with Ian Nazareth and students Matthew Ellis, Ken Yip Lai, Sarah Moussa, Francisca Rodriguez, Nicholas Stathopoulos]

▪Rezoning the 5th Façade: Redefining New York’s City Roof Scapenormaldesign [Matthias Neumann in collaboration with Shane T. Umman]

▪Second NatureEl Corbusier

▪Into the Void: An Architectural Competition on EmptinessZooburbia [Felipe Orensanz, Rodrigo Duran]

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About Storefront for Art and Architecture is committed to the advancement of innovative and critical positions at the intersections of architecture, art, and design. Storefront’s program of exhibitions, events, competitions, publications and projects provides an alternative platform for dialogue and collaboration across disciplinary, geographic and ideological boundaries. Through its physical and digital platforms, Storefront provides an open forum for experiments that impact the understanding and future of cities, urban territories and public life.Since its founding in 1982, Storefront has presented the work of over one thousand architects and artists.

Storefront is a nonprofit institution and relies on the support of individuals. To make a donationor become a member, contact +1 212.431.5795 or visit website at www.store frontnews.org/support.

Executive Directorand Chief CuratorEva Franch i Gilabert

Director of ExternalRelations Kara Meyer

Associate CuratorCarlos Mínguez Carrasco

Development and Communications Coordinator Zeynep Göksel

Gallery Managerand Project CoordinatorPiotr Chizinski

Venice Biennale OfficeUS Project CoordinatorIrina Chernyakova

Web MasterGreg Mihalko

Interns Susana Holguin-Veras, Silvia Callegari, Ashley Kuto,

Tyrene Calvesbert, Diandra Cohen, Yuma Shinohara, Michael Signorile, Melody Stein, Elise Stella

Volunteers Jordan Marie Anderson, Sharif Anous, Tomaz Capobianco, Stine Ilum, Andrew Goodhouse, Amie Cunat, Megan Enright, Adam Feldman, Cara Cecilio, Lauren Johnson, Matthew Lohry, Ryan Ripoli, Benjamin Pollack, Marie Dyhr Caspersen, Liz Naiden, Lauren Trahan, Aurelia Rohrbacker, Charlie Sneath, Amanda Madigan, Daryl King, Jordana Vasquez, Isabelle Kirkham-Lewitt, Richard Duff

Board of DirectorsCharles Renfro PresidentCampbell Hyers Vice PresidentR. Douglass Rice Treasurer Lauren Kogod Secretary

Carlos BrillembourgHal FosterBelmont FreemanTerence GowerSteven T. IncontroJames von KlempererMarc KushnerMichael ManfrediWilliam MenkingMargery PerlmutterLinda PollakSylvia J. SmithRobert M. RubinArtur Walther Mabel WilsonKaren WongDirector’s CouncilKyong Park FounderShirin NeshatSarah HerdaJoseph Grima

Board of AdvisorsKent BarwickStefano BoeriPeter CookBeatriz ColominaChris DerconElizabeth DillerClaudia GouldDan GrahamPeter GuggenheimerRichard HaasBrooke Hodge

Steven HollSteven JohnsonToyo ItoMary Jane JacobMary MissAntoni MuntadasHans Ulrich ObristLucio PozziFrederieke TaylorAnthony VidlerJames Wines

Poster DesignLauren Francescone

Gallery LocationStorefront’s gallery is located at 97 Kenmare Street between Mulberry and Lafayette Streets. Trains: 6 to Spring; N/R to Prince; B/D/F/V to Broadway Lafayette

Gallery HoursOpen Tuesday–Saturday11am–6pmClosed Sunday–Monday

General support for Storefront for Art in Architecture is made possible by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; The Greenwich Collection Ltd.; the Lily Auchin-closs Foundation; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; The Peter T. Joseph Foundation; the Foundation for Contemporary Arts; by its Board of Directors, members and by individuals.

For more information about up-coming events and projects, or to learn about different ways to get involved with Storefront, visit www.storefrontnews.org, e-mail info@storefrontnews.org or call +1 212.431.5795.

As a civic figure, the architect has the privilege and responsibility to articulate and translate the collective aspirations of society, and specifically of those not able to sit at the decision-making tables.

Throughout history, architects have engaged with this responsibility and the structures of economic, political and cultural power in different ways and with varying degrees of success. With the rise of globalization and the homogenization of the contemporary city, the role of the architect in the political arena has often been relegated to answering questions that others have asked. While designing the next economically driven cultural-iconic-touristic object, an increasing amount of both architects and with them, politicians, have forgotten the ethics that should be associated with architectural practice and the potential of design in the construction of public life.

Letters to the Mayor presents fifty letters written by international architects to the political leaders of more than 20 cities around the world. 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.

Letters to the Mayor also presents the 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 thus 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.

Sincerely,Storefront for Art and Architecture

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Lettersto the Mayor

April 30–May 24

Finalists of the 2013 Competition of Competitions, a project that seeks to provide and deliver new and relevant forms of engagement and content to the economic, political and social systems that currently act as the voice of authority for the development of our cities. Competition of Competitions asks architects, artists, economists, philosophers, writers, and citizens at large to create interdisciplinary teams to formulate the questions of our time and define the agents that should pursue the task to ask and commis-sion the visions for the future in the form of a competition brief.

Ellie Abrons, Emily Abruzzo, Nora Akawi, Azra Akšamija, Zahra Ali Baba, Suad Amiry, Arielle Assouline-Lichten, Bronwyn Breitner, Alessandra Cianchetta, Odile Decq, Sonja Duempelmann, Keller Easterling, Pia Ednie-Brown, Frida Escobedo, Daniela Fabricius, Yvonne Farrell, Daisy Froud, Rosalie Genevro, Cristina Goberna, Selva Gürdoğan, Greta Hansen, Roisin Heneghan, Joyce Hwang, Catherine Ingraham, Catherine Johnson, Julia King, María Langarita, Alexandra Lange, Ana María León Crespo, Ariane Lourie Harrison, Jing Liu, Yeoryia Manolopoulou, Mpho Matsipa, Mitch McEwen, Shelley McNamara, Meredith Miller, Elizabeth O’Donnell, Marina Otero, Mariana Pestana, Rocío Pina, Anna Puigjaner, Danielle Rago, Suchi Reddy, Dagmar Richter, Florencia Rodríguez, Rebecca Rudolph, Saskia Sassen, Deborah Schneiderman, Annabelle Selldorf, Maria Smith, Michael Sorkin, Esther Sperber, Martha Thorne, Nathalie de Vries, Sarah Whiting, Mabel Wilson, Kim Yao, Marisa Yiu, Alejandro Zaera Polo, Mimi Zeiger, Zoka Zola, and more...

,

The WallpaperDesigned by George Vousta, the Letters to the Mayor New York wallpaper is an investigation into the language of power and the wallpaper role that architecture acquires within political spheres, specially during ground breaking ceremonies, building inaugurations, ribbon cutting ceremonies and speeches. The work, composed with shovels, ties, microphones, bows, ribbon and handshakes taken from photographs of political acts in relation to architecture, does not portray any architecture piece, inversing the relationship of architecture and politics, transforming the aesthetics of politics into the wallpaper of architectural discourse.

The Mayor/Architect Office Designed by Piotr Chizinski as a green room for possible architecture broadcasts, the office was furnished with an architects drafting desk, and a Mayoral Desk and sofas made out of corn foam, a material that slowly disintegrates as water and sweat (or tears) interact with its surface. Visitors could sit down at the architects’ desk and write their own letters to the mayor, or sit at the mayoral desk and read all letters compiled in a binder.

The Architect’s Office

LETTERS TO THE MAYORPANAMA CITYJUNTA ESPACIO DE ARQUITECTURA

March 17 - April 27, 2015JUNTA | Espacio de Arquitectura

Launched a month before the Mayoral Elections, Letters to the Mayor in Panama brought a diversity of local architects in discussion with the current Mayor, José Isabel Blandón.

Participants: Established and emerging voices, including Ricardo Arosemena, Marie Andree Soundy, Gilberto Guardia, Darién Montañez, Margot Lopez, Alfredo Martiz, Brooke Alfaro, Juan del Barrio, a group of students from the School of Architecture of the University of Panama, among others.

Design Team: The Wallpaper was designed by Oscar Melgar. The Mayoral/Architect Office was conceived and fabricated as a piñata, a very popular object in Panamanian celebrations. Piñatas typically represent personalities, characters or heroes of local pop culture. They are ceremoniously broken open at the end of parties to reveal surprises hidden inside. The design of the Architects/Mayoral was produced by a group of local artisans in collaboration with JUNTA.

Curatorial Team: Johann Wolfschoon with JUNTA Espacio de Arquitectura

TEMPLATE INVITATION LETTER

Template Invitation Letter. Editable version attached Example of letter of invitation sent by CAMPO in Letters to the Mayor: Bogotá.

     [Insert  logo  of  your  organization]  

Board of Directors Charles Renfro, President Campbell Hyers, Vice President Steven T. Incontro, Treasurer Lauren Kogod, Secretary Phil Bernstein Hal Foster Belmont Freeman Terence Gower Amit Khurana James von Klemperer Michael Manfredi Sara Meltzer William Menking Sarah Natkins Margery Perlmutter Linka Pollak Robert M. Rubin Sylvia J. Smith Artur Walther Mabel Wilson Karen Wong

Director's Council Kyong Park, Founder Shirin Neshat Sarah Herda Joseph Grima Board of Advisors Kent Barwick Stefano Boeri Beatriz Colomina Peter Cook Chris Dercon Elizabeth Diller Claudia Gould Dan Graham Peter Guggenheimer Richard Haas Brooke Hodge Steven Holl Steven Johnson Toyo Ito Mary Jane Jacob Mary Miss Antoni Muntadas Shirin Neshat Lucio Pozzi Frederieke Taylor Anthony Vidler James Wines Jean Louis Cohen

[date]

Dear [name], We would like to invite you to participate in Storefront for Art and Architecture’s upcoming exhibition “Letters to the Mayor – [insert city]” which will open on April 29, 2014. An initiative started in 2014 by Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York, “Letters to the Mayor” invites you and a selected group of architects around the world to write a letter to the Mayor of your city of origin or residence articulating some of the pressing questions and desires that, as an architect, you believe play an important role in the political dimensions and decisions that drive the making of cities and territories. The letter must be submitted on US letter size paper (8.5” x11”) or A4 size. There is no limit to the length or brevity of the letter. Letters will be exhibited at the [name of the gallery] gallery in [city] from [dates] to [dates] with an opening reception on [opening date] at [time of the opening] Texts will be considered as part of the “Letters to the Mayor” archive and upcoming publication, edited by Storefront for Art and Architecture. All texts must be sent as a doc and pdf file to [contact person and mail in your organization] by [day] I hope you will accept this invitation. If you do, please send us a confirmation email by [date] Thanks again for your time and consideration and I hope to have you join us in this act of architectural communication. Kind regards, [Insert signature and name Eva Franch I Gilabert director of your organization]

Executive Director and Chief Curator Storefront for Art and Architecture

Conversation with the Mayor On March 31, 2015 the Mayor of Panama City José Isabel Blandón visited the exhibition for a guided tour and round table conversation. The discussion lasted for over two hours where many of the letter authors and other guests shared their views with the Mayor. The conversation was moderated into three main points: identity, density and community. A set of copies of all the letters was hand delivered to the Mayor this day.

LETTER TO THE MAYORBOGOTÁCAMPOCULTURAL CENTER

Oct 25 - Dec 19, 2015CAMPO Cultural CenterBogotá, Colombia

Bogotá has gone through a very difficult eight year period with regards to the city’s power structures and specifically mayoral power. The notable corruption scandal perpetuated by Samuel Moreno in 2008, during the construction of one of the city’s main highways, unleashed a chain of events including over three acting Mayors, two removed and disqualified mayors and one convicted Mayor. This has resulted in a serious lack of leadership and a notable sense of abandonment, corruption and abuse of power that has generated utter disbelief towards the figure of the Mayor in Bogotá.

Elections for Mayoral office will take place this year on October 25, in this dim context, these elections have become particularly important for Bogotá. Citizens are worn out and tired of the city’s lack of organization, wondering if change is possible. That is why we believe it is imperative for cultural agents such as CAMPO to generate interstices that allow for new voices, forms of dialogue and points of view regarding the city to be made visible, in order to create a discourse that is different from the narrative that has become the norm.

Participants include Maria Cecilia O’byrne, Camilo Salaza, Willy Drews, Guillermo Fischer, Phillip Weiss, Alberto Saldarriaga, Juan Pablo Aschner, Fernando Rubio, Juan Jacobo Molina,, Ricardo Daza, Oficina Informal, Taller 301, Daniel Bermudez, Juan Pablo Ortiz, Taller de Santiago y Sebastián, Lucas Oberlander, Manuel Villa, Simon Hosie, Tania Maya, and more.

Design Team: The wallpaper is designed by Paulo Licona (Colombia, 1997) an artists that lives and works in Bogotá. The Mayoral/Architect Office is designed by Pablo Gómez Uribe (Colombia, 1975).

Cuarotial Team: CAMPO: Carlos Balen, altiplano (Felipe Guerra), Monumental (Alejandro Piñol,Germán Ramírez), Juliana Sánchez and Alejandra Sarria.

LETTERS TO THE MAYOR MARIUPOL, UKRAINEIZOLYLATSIA

October 23-November 13, 2015IZOLYATSIAMariupol, Ukraine

The Site: The city of Mariupol was chosen as the site for the project, leading up to the elections as it is one of several cities in Ukraine facing the challenges of how to rebuild and re-imagine a city and its culture while under continual conflict due to its strategic location. IZOLYATSIA’s temporary “Office of the Mayor” is symbolically located near the City Hall building that was destroyed during fighting with separatists.

The Office of the Mayor: The Mayor’s office, decorated to reflect the lazy comfort and personal gain of the “fat cat” politicians, features a salon chair for the mayor and plush furry chairs and desk for industry lobbyists and oligarchs – the only guests that seem to have the mayor’s attention. The fake fur speaks to the level of deceit, mismanagement, and corruption that consistently plagues politics in Mariupol as evidenced in the current elections. The chairs create a place to be pampered and rewarded rather then a place to work hard to face the challenges to represent the citizens and move the city forward.

The architect’s desk is the opposite –a simple and unadorned small wood desk for which to labor. Located in the corner it is outside the field of influence and barely noticed within the decadent environment for the mayor. It’s designed to reflect the architect’s lack of influence in city development, with only 5 official architects registered in Mariupol, a situation that affects cohesive, intelligent, long-lasting and meaningful benefit for city.

The Wallpaper: Marina Samokhina, a visual and graphic artist born in Horlivka now residing in Kyiv, created a design in the “old soviet style” reflecting Mariupol’s political management style and sending an alarm that the old ways are in danger of continuing. The images reference the well- financed but non-productive industry forced on the city from Soviet regimeswith factories pumping out heavy pollution. Nautical motifs refer to its strategic location on the sea. The recurring symbol of life bouys represent a gesture to save the drowning city plagued by loss of business, identity, hope, and a significant portion of its population.

LETTERS TO THE MAYORATHENSMETAMATIC:TAFFEB 25 - MARCH 6, 2016

February 25 - March 6, 2016Metamatic:tafAthens, Greece

“In a present dominated by controversial headlines, at metamatic:taf we find that it is important to trigger conversations by mobilizing different actors who seek solutions. A reality-check in these tumultuous and exciting times for the city of Athens.” From the curatorial statement of METASITU & metamatic:taf Participants:A Whale’s architects, Yannis Aesopos, Dimitris Athinakis, Loukas Bartatilas, Campus Novel (Giannis Cheimonakis, Giannis Delagrammatikas, Foteini Palpana, Yiannis Sinioroglou, Ino Varvariti), Xenofondas Dialeismas, Renata Douma (OPEN HOUSE ATHENS), Panos Dragonas, Alexis Fidetzis, Lena Foutsitzi, George Gavalas & John Mourikis (ARCHSET), Danae Georgouli & Filia Glyka, Tatiana May Kallergis, Maria Kaltsa, Yannis Karlopoulos, Navine G. Khan-Dossos, Stelios Kois (Kois Associated Architects), Vassiliki Kotzia, Konstantinos Labrinopoulos (KLab), Katerina Matsa, Loukas Mexis, Marlen Mouliou, Filippos Oraiopoulos, Maria Paneta, Konstantinos Pantazis & Marianna Rentzou (Point Supreme), Artemis Papageorgiou ((Entropika), Myrto Papadogeorgou (City of Errors), Maria Peteinaki, Eleni Portaliou, Bill Psarras, Elien Ronse, Speleo- / ΣπΣΣΣΣΣ- (Fanis Kafantaris, Giannis Grigoriadis, Stavros Mouzakitis, Vassilis Vassiliadis), Thomas Tsalapatis, Augustus Veinoglou (SNEHTA Residency), Georgia Voudouri (medianeras), Eirini Vourloumis, Theodoros Zafeiropoulos, Efthimios Zervas, Alexandros Zomas (Micromega Architecture&Strategies) Wallpaper by:George Vousta Mayoral / Architect Office by:Iphigenia Papamikroulea Curated by: METASITU & metamatic:taf

LETTERS TO THE MAYORTAIPEI, TAIWANURS 127JANUARY 8-31, 2016

January 8-31, 2016URS 127Taipei, Taiwan

Participants: Marco CasagrandeΣWiny MaasΣYINPING FANGΣChun-Hsiung WangΣWang, Pe JenΣChe WangΣYao-Pang WangΣJunya IshigamiΣYasutaka YoshimuraΣTadao AndoΣHung-Nan ChuΣHo, Ting FungΣHotaiwenΣWu, YI-YENΣSheng-Ming WuΣLeu,chin-wenΣWen Sheng LeeΣLee Ching-ChihΣIzumi OkayasuΣWan-Jen LinΣLIN, Fang-YiΣLin Bo YangΣChiaju LinΣAndy LinΣaLingΣWen-chien ChiuΣHao-Hsiu ChiuΣGo HasegawaΣAoki JunΣCHIANG, LE-CHINGΣSun Chi-JongΣHSUΣYEN-CHIΣKANG, Min JayΣCHI-YI CHANGΣChing-Hwa Chang/ Ying-Chao Kuo ΣJing-Yao ChangΣYuchang Liang ΣKatsu UmebayashiΣHsu, Li-YuΣChenYu LIENΣhsuyuan KuoΣYu-lin Chen / Malone ChangΣKuanhua ChenΣShu-Yi ChenΣWENYUAN PENGΣTseng Kuang-TsungΣC.David TsengΣBorden TsengΣHuang Jui-MaoΣHuang,Sheng-YuanΣYANG HSIU CHUANΣKyle YangΣYang,ShihHungΣNorihiko DanΣLaio Wei-LiΣRay ChuΣChao Li HsingΣYuan-Hung ChaoΣke-fung LiouΣPo-Hung LiuΣLiu,chung-sheng ΣTien Yi, PanΣJOSHUA JIH PAN, FAIAΣTSAI, MING-YING ΣShuwa TeiΣRENΣBOB RYUΣJia-Hui DayΣPei-ni Beatrice HSIEHΣSotetsu SHAΣHsieh Ying ChunΣChung Ping HungΣChien Hsueh Yi ΣSou FujimotoΣSu Jui-piΣShu Chang Kung. The Office of the Mayor: Designed by the Taipei-based 3 pounds Co. Ltd, a life-size Monopoly board game is used to invite public participation, provide a platform for the general public to voice their opinions, and facilitate communication with city officials. The Wall Paper: Also using components from the Monopoly, red houses represent the number of social housing in Taipei, while green houses represent general residences. Red houses, scattered among the green houses, occupy merely 0.08% of the image. 0.08% is also the ratio of the affordable housing provided by the City to the general ones, a small number so negligible in urban development.

LETTERS TO THE MAYORMEXICOARQUINEMARCH 5 - APRIL 4, 2016

March 5 - April 4, 2016Centro Cultural de EspañaMexico DF, Mexico

Participants:Miquel Adriá, Alejandro Hernández, Pedro Hernández, José Castillo, Pablo Goldin Marcovich, Juan José Kochen, Félix Sánchez, Pablo Kobayashi, Mauricio Rocha, Víctor Alcérreca, Marcos Mazari Hiriart, Héctor López, Sergio Beltrán, Patricio Ruiz, Yuri Zagorin, Horacio Urbano, Juan José Sánchez Aedo, Enrique Norten, Bernardo Gómez Pimienta, Juan Carlos Cano, Pedro Reyes, Michel Rojkind, Ernesto Alva, Raúl Cárdenas, Felipe Leal, Saydee Springall, Caterina Prgazzi, Andrea Griborio, Mariana Barron, Felipe Leal, Saydee Springall, Caterina Pregazzi, Andrea Griborio, Mariana Barrón, Selene Patlán, Rozana Montiel, Tatiana Bilbao, Fernanda Canales, Frida Escobedo, Loreta Castro Dolores Martínez, Louise Noelle, Surella Segú, Laura Janka, Sol Camacho, Gabriela Carillo, Elena Tudela, Carolyn Aguilar, Jimena de Gortari, Clara de Buen, Ingrid Moye, Ana Paula Ruiz Galindo, Erika Loana, Aura Cruz, and Luby Springall Designer Mayoral / Architect Table:Pedro Hernández Current Mayor of Mexico City:Miguel Ángel Mancera Espinosa Jefe de Gobierno del Distrito FederalAddress: Jefatura de Gobierno del Distrito Federal Plaza de la Constitución #2, 1ER PISOOficina 131 Colonia Centro, Delegación CuauhtémocC.P. 06700Email adress: jefaturadegobierno@df.gob.mx

BUENOS AIRES

MONOAMBIENTEMARCH 19 - MAY 21, 2016

March 19 - May 21, 2016MonoambienteBuenos Aires, Argentina

Participants:Fernando Diez, Consejo Profesional de Arquitectura y Urbanismo, Juan Fontana, Roberto Frangella, Noemí Beatriz Gómez, Alfredo Garay, vdb arquitectos (Federico Valverdi, Claudio De Brasi), María Estela Baltroc, Gabriela Cárdenas, Nicolás Fernández Sanz, Dynamo (Lucas Grande, Pedro Yañez), Alberto Gorbatt, Fabiana Martínez, Laura S. Horrocks, Colectivo Off the record (Felipe Oeyen, Juan Pablo Berbery, Victoria Cocuche, Lucía Capetto, Matías Lien Benitez, Joaquín Rodríguez Althoff, Victoria Freije, Ayelen Franceschini, Dana Lorena Martínez De’ Nobili), Versa Arq. Oficina de Arquitectura (Arq. Carlos Navarro, Arq. Gastón Chalabe), Victor Ramos Pezzi y Ricardo Palmadessa, FRAM arquitectos (Franco Riccheri, Agustín Mendiondo), Colectivo AS6030 (Bárbara Berson, Gabriela Casabianca, Susana Caruso, Ana M. Compagnoni, Claudio Delbene, Magdalena Eggers, Ismael Eyras, Analía Fernández, Alejandra Kozak, Daniel Kozak, María José Leveratto, Susana Mühlmann, Francisco Ortiz, Cecilia Pumares, Andrés Schwarz, Ariel Sueiro, Marta Yajnes, Sebastián Zanetti, et al.), Circular (Santiago Giusto, Martin Flugelman, Pedro Magnasco, Manuel Mensa, Mercedes Peralta, Gustavo Alonso Serafin, Florencia Spina y Carolina Telo), LUPA|ARQ (Paula Imperatore, Luz Rodríguez Chatruc), Estudio de Arquitectura Becker-Ferrari junto a Estudio de diseño García Balza & González – Estudio de Arquitectura Becker-Ferrari (Daniel Becker, Claudio Ferrari) Estudio de diseño García Balza & González (Roberto García Balza, Marcela González), Dino Buzzi, IR arquitectura (Luciano Intile, Enrico Cavaglia, Fermin Indavere, Esteban Basili Tonoli, Guillermo Mirochnic), Ariel Jacubovich, Alejandra Mestre, Luis Jacobo Grossman con Román Peñalba, Carlos de la Borbolla y Ricardo Gersbach, Colle•Croce (Sebastian Colle, Rodolfo Croce), Gustavo Nielsen, Emilio Rivoira, AToT (Agustín Moscato, Lucía Hollman), BAAG (Buenos Aires Arquitectura Grupal) (Griselda Balian, Gabriel Monteleone, Gastón Noriega, María Emilia Porcelli – Colaboradores: Santiago Chudnovsky, Martín Dallasta, Federico Pia, Sarah Caneri), Monoblock (Marcos Amadeo, Fernando Cynowiec, Juan Granara, Adrian Russo, Alexis Schächter), Manuel Ciarlotti Bidinost (BBC Arquitectos, Estudio Homeless), Ramiro Schere, Javier Agustín Rojas, Hitzig Militello arquitectos (Fernando Hitzig Mehr, Leonardo G. Militello), Marcelo Corti, Esteban – Tannenbaum arquitectos (Javier Esteban, Romina Tannenbaum), Diana Cabeza, Moderna Buenos Aires, Néstor Magariños, CAZA (Nina Carrara, María Zamtlejfer), Adamo – Faiden (Sebastián Adamo, Marcelo Faiden) Andrea Saltzman, Mauricio Corbalan, Nicolás Sarno Jordan, Galpón Estudio (Max Zolkwer, Ramiro Gallardo, Gustavo Nielsen), Ana Rascovsky (Estudio Planta), Florencia Rodríguez Mayor and architect table:Grupo Bondi (Eugenio Gómez Llambi, Iván López Prystajko) Wallpaper:The Rock Instrument Bureau

SAO PAULO

PIVOJULY 3 - 30, 2016

July 2-30, 2016PivoSao paulo, Brazil

Participants:23 SUL Arquitetura, Abílio Guerra , Aflalo/Gasperini Arquitetos, Agnaldo Farias, Álvaro Puntoni, Andrade Morettin Arquitetos, Apiacás Arquitetos, AR Arquitetos, Atelier Branco, Carlos Alberto Cerqueira Lemos, Ciro Pirondi, Cristiano Mascaro, Ermínia Maricato, Fortes, Gimenes e Marcondes Ferraz, Francesco Perrotta Bosch, Francisco Spadoni (Spadoni AA), Gabriel Kogan, GTA-MTST, Guilherme Wisnik, Hector Vigliecca (Vigliecca & Associados), Hereñú + Ferroni Arquitetos, IAB (Instituto de Arquitetos do Brasil – Institute of Architects of Brazil), Laura Sobral, Ligia Nobre, Luis Espallargas Gimenez, Marcio Kogan (Studio MK27), Maria Cristina da Silva Leme, Martin Corullon (Metro arquitetos), Milton Braga, Marta Moreira (MMBB), Monica Camargo Junqueira, Regina Meyer, Renato Cymbalista, SIAA – Shundi Iwamizu Arquitetos Associados, Silvio Oksman, Terra e Tuma, Vão Arquitetura, Vera Pallamin. Wallpaper by:Branco Papel de Parede in collaboration with the artist Lucas Simões Poster:ps.2 arquitetura + design Mayor of São Paulo:Fernando Haddad Curated by: Bruno de Almeida and Fernando Falcon

LISBONARCHITECTURE TRIENNALEOCTOBER 2016

Letters to the Mayor:

New York — Storefront for Art and Architecture / April 30 – May 24, 2014

Panama City, Panama — JUNTA Espacio de Arquitectura / March 17 – April 27, 2015

Mariupol, Ukraine — IZOYLATSIA / Oct 23 – Nov 13, 2015

Bogotá, Colombia — CAMPO Cultural Center / Oct 24 – Dec 19, 2015

Taipei, Taiwan — URS 127 / Jan 8 – 31, 2016

Athens, Greece — METAMATIC: TAF / February 25 – March 6, 2016

Mexico City, Mexico — Arquine / March 5 – April 4, 2016

Buenos Aires, Argentina — Monoespacios / March 19 – May 21, 2016

Sao Paulo, Brazil — Pivo / July 2 – 30, 2016

Lisbon, Portugal — Lisbon Architecture Triennale / Oct 6 – Dec 19, 2016

FUTURE PARTNERSHIPSPartnership Agreement:Storefront will collaborate with organizations, individuals, and groups willing to produce and host a local Letters to the Mayor exhibition free of charge, and will aid in production and promotion of the event. Please note the following stipulations:

1. PROPOSAL. All interested parties should submit a proposal at least two months prior to the desired opening date. Proposals should include:a/ Letter of interest from the hosting individual, group, or organization identifying the city or cities to be included and why.b/ List of architects who will be asked to participate: Name, affiliation and contact. c/ Work samples of artists who will be commissioned for the Poster, Wallpaper and the Mayoral/Architect Officed/ Exhibition location, dates and collateral events.f/ CV or resume of the primary organizers/curatorial team.

2. Upon approval of a partnership with Storefront, organizers must submit a draft of all press materials to Storefront’s Director of Development and Outreach for approval and further dissemination.

3. Prior to the opening, all letters will be sent digitally to Storefront for Art and Architecture, along with images of the installation for outreach purposes.

4. Funding for Storefront representatives to attend the opening or other events related to the exhibition is desirable but not required.

5. Storefront is not responsible for any financial obligations incurred in the production of local exhibitions; organizations and individuals must secure their own funding for the exhibition and related activities.

6. Storefront is happy to provide a selection of submitted letters from previous iterations of the project to be presented as part of the exhibition.

7. The Storefront for Art and Architecture logo and a short text describing the Letters to the Mayor project will be included in the exhibition design.

8. Storefront is willing to send a printed mailer of the Poster/Newsletter to our network in the US with a financial contribution of $5,000.

We look forward to working with you!

CONTACT USIf you would like more information about Letters to the Mayor, Storefront’s mission and upcoming programming, please contact:

Jinny Khanduja jk@storefrontnews.org 212. 431. 5795 Carlos Mínguez-Carrascocmc@storefrontnews.orhg212.431.5795