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Spill The Tea: How Architects Can Transform Workplace Culture and Call Out Toxic Office Environments
CategoriesArchitecture

Spill The Tea: How Architects Can Transform Workplace Culture and Call Out Toxic Office Environments

By Zarkon Group,

Wandile Mthiyane is an Obama Leader, TedxFellow, architectural designer, social entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Ubuntu Design Group (UDG) and The Anti-Racist Hotdog. He is proud to introduce The Tea, a peer-to-peer inclusion rating platform.

For far too long, companies have chosen to remedy discrimination after the fact rather than proactively cultivating prevention tactics to ensure employees don’t endure negative and potentially traumatic experiences. This reactive default means that the people who plan our homes, neighborhoods and cities don’t have a plan preventing them from facing harmful and dangerous workplace situations. It’s too easy to simply blame architecture culture; architects shouldn’t have to depend on Plan B–lawsuits, support groups or even have therapists on speed dial. What if you had all the information you needed on a company’s culture before applying?

Recently, I asked some friends what they wished they had known before entering the workforce, and their responses shed light on the challenges they faced. Each told me a harrowing story about intersectional discrimination in the workplace: significant pay gaps, inadequate maternity leave and administrative reluctance to address these issues and others. Comparing their stories exposes how similar problems can be found anywhere in the world, with women and people of color trying to combat workplace discrimination while simply trying to do the jobs they were hired for.

One experience was shared by a Black female friend who worked as an architectural designer in South Africa. After her first year, the company hired her white male classmate from university, assigning her the task of mentoring him for six months and teaching him about the firm’s design philosophy. One day over lunch, he unexpectedly expressed his dissatisfaction with his salary and, in the process, revealed the significant pay gap between them. Surprised by this revelation, my friend confronted her boss, and the conversation that followed is almost unbelievable.

Library in Anzin by Dominique Coulon & Associés, Anzin, France

The boss initially justified the disparity by explaining that her classmate had financial responsibilities, such as paying rent to his mother. She pointed out that she paid rent to an actual landlord. The boss mentioned that his colleague — again, who she was mentoring — had a car, so they need to uphold his living standard, to which she responded she’d also have a car if she were compensated fairly. Only when she threatened to quit did she gain a raise to match her classmate’s salary.

These problems persist in North America, too. My Asian friend from Canada shared a comparable account of discovering that she was being paid significantly less than her colleagues. When she confronted her boss about the inequity, her boss quickly deflected the issue to the HR department, adopting a stance of concern and promising action. A week later, the boss informed her that the matter had been resolved and presented her with a list of goals she needed to achieve within a specific timeframe to earn a raise. Frustrated, she questioned the idea of needing to prove herself for a job she was already overqualified for just to receive equal pay. In the face of her threat to resign, the matter was resolved within a week.

Meanwhile, one of my white female friends in Germany revealed an age-based layer to gender discrimination. As she approached her mid-20s, she encountered difficulties securing a job. Once gainfully employed, she faced even greater hurdles in obtaining promotions. Companies perceived her as a potential liability because she could get pregnant, thus hindering her progress at work. Almost ironically, policies favoring maternity leave have led male bosses to view women as liabilities.

Clearly this problem is pervasive worldwide and is linked to problematic workplace cultures. While relevant in most workplaces, architecture is an industry well known for its toxic work culture. Architects have to deal with unnecessary competition between colleagues, work long hours, and pay off a mountain of school debt in the meantime. In 2023, Architecture Journal reported that over 40% of architects work at least 10 hours of overtime per week, largely unpaid, according to an AJ study completed by 400 architects. This work-pace leads to high burn-out rates, with almost 97% of architects reporting burn-out.

Take into consideration women and People of Color have to fight their own struggles against workplace discrimination while doing their own work in these already-toxic spaces. According to the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), out of the 121,603 licensed architects in the U.S. as of 2022, only 2% (2,492) are Black. Among them, only 566 are Black women, despite Black people making up 12.6% of the country’s population, with 52% of the Black population being Black women. These statistics clearly highlight the significant underrepresentation of people of color, particularly Black individuals and women, exposing them to vulnerability in white male-dominated studio spaces. Moreover, disparities in power structures within firms further exacerbate the situation, as women face additional challenges and are less likely to complete licensure, impeding their progression to principal roles. As one of my American friends noted, employees should have the ability to go to work and focus solely on their tasks without the added burden of being the unofficial and unpaid advocates for DEI within their companies.

Clearly, DEI programming is not enough to change our workplaces. Over the past two years, my team and I have partnered with leading social psychologists from Harvard, Columbia, Deloitte, and The Resolution Project, and closely studied company culture while consulting with architecture firms, both large and small. Throughout our research, we engaged with young professionals to understand what they wish they had known before entering the workforce, particularly what would have helped them make better decisions about the places where they would spend the majority of their adult lives.

Building upon this work, we developed The Tea: a demographic-specific, peer-to-peer inclusion rating platform that connects women and people of color to workplaces where they are truly valued. The Tea uses key workplace indicators that matter the most to individuals of similar demographics, based on research that shows why women and people of color leave or stay in workplaces. The platform uses ratings based on key workplace indicators such as salaries and benefits, path to growth, internal advocacy, external advocacy, authentic self, and valued expression. Users can also filter based on race, gender, sexual orientation and age to find how people that look like you have experienced a particular workplace.

The Tea is also built for firm leaders and HR directors, helping them know exactly what they need to improve in their own workplaces and the steps they have to take. Instead of providing negative anecdotes without clear solutions, The Tea’s data-driven key indicators show more precisely where companies need to improve. Companies can even upload their own efforts to address each indicator, so applicants can see how a company is dealing with certain problems. Above all, we value everyone’s identity and security, online and in the workplace: just log in with your LinkedIn, and your reporting remains anonymous.

In the end, The Tea benefits everyone involved. It provides employees with a safe space to identify companies that truly value their labor, eliminating the need for them to be BIM managers and the office’s designated MLK just because they’re a person of color. Simultaneously, employers gain valuable insights on how to create the most culturally diverse and inclusive firms in the world. We are transforming DEI from a mere aspiration into a tangible reality. Let’s join forces and spill the tea together, ensuring we never have to face these challenges again!

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Studio Wok designs bakery Pan as contemporary take on Japanese culture
CategoriesInterior Design

Studio Wok designs bakery Pan as contemporary take on Japanese culture

By Zarkon Group,

Architecture practice Studio Wok has created a matcha-green counter and Japanese-style fabric panels for bakery and wine bar Pan in Milan’s Acquabella district.

The studio created the eatery, which is led by Japanese chefs Yoji Tokuyoshi and Alice Yamada, to have an interior that would represent a meeting between Japan and Milan.

“There are references to Japanese culture, non-literal and far from stereotypes,” Studio Wok said. “The intention was for a deeper understanding, working on the concept of quality, both in materials and in details.”

Bread counter at Pan cafe
A fibreglass counter sits at the centre of the bakery

A central bread counter is the “protagonist piece” in Pan’s interior design.

The counter was constructed from panels of fibreglass grid and its eye-catching colour was informed by the vivid green of matcha, an ingredient widely used in Pan’s food, the studio said.

Fibreglass was also used to create an external bench, linking the bakery with the wider neighbourhood.

Fibreglass bench outside Milan bakery
Fibreglass was also used for an external bench

“We did a lot of research looking for a ‘poor’ material that could be ennobled by being used in an innovative way,” Studio Wok told Dezeen.

“Fiberglass grating is a material used in industry but little used in interiors and it seemed perfect to us.”

Ceiling fins in Pan cafe
Fabric hangs from the ceiling

The green of the fibreglass is echoed in vertical fins of hanging fabric that define the ceiling, creating a dialogue between hard and soft elements within the space.

These suspended sheets of fabric are a contemporary update of the traditional Japanese design element of ‘noren’, meaning curtains or hanging divider panels.

Ceiling inside Pan bakery
Wooden seats have views of the street

“The ceiling sheets have the main function of creating a three-dimensional covering to make the environment more welcoming and also to work from an acoustic point of view,” the studio said.

“They create a suspended three-dimensional world, both continuous and ephemeral. Furthermore, they dialogue with natural light during the day and with artificial light in the evening.”

Bathroom sink by Studio Wok
The bathroom has a decorative stone sink

In the bathroom, the green theme continues with a wall and sliding door featuring translucent panels of pressed cellulose, which have been fixed onto a wooden grid frame.

“We were looking for a translucent material to allow natural light to pass through the anteroom. It also reminded us of the rice paper walls, typical of Japan,” Studio Wok said.

The effect of these materials is to create “a green monochromatic box from which the monolithic element of the sink emerges,” Studio Wok said.

The sink was made of a grey-tinted natural stone called Moltrasio.

In the main space, light grey walls and floors in hand-trowelled cementitious resin amplify the sense of light, while chestnut was used in both its pale natural form and stained black across integrated and freestanding furniture.

Interior of Pan, Milan
Black-stained chestnut was used for the bar area

The bar area has a more serious, less playful atmosphere, informed by the black-stained chestnut wood of the counter and cabinetry.

Here, a rough-hewn natural stone boulder serves as a water counter, introducing a freeform, sculptural element to the space.

Bar at Pan in Milan
Studio Wok designed the bakery and wine bar with references to Japan

To anchor the space in the local neighbourhood, Studio Wok designed large windows with pale chestnut frames that open the bakery up towards the street.

Seating in the window areas “project the interiors of the venue outwards, creating a hybrid threshold space between the domestic and the urban,” the studio said.

“Our vision for the material palette at Pan was to seek a balance between elements with a contemporary and industrial flavour, with others that are more natural and timeless,” said Studio Wok.

“It’s a celebration of Japan and its dualism between innovation and wabi-sabi spirit.”

Studio Wok has previously designed a cavernous pizza restaurant and transformed a barn into a country home.

The photography is by Simone Bossi.

Reference

The Culture of Architecture Needs an Overhaul, Part II: Historical Background, Today’s Context and Future Steps
CategoriesArchitecture

The Culture of Architecture Needs an Overhaul, Part II: Historical Background, Today’s Context and Future Steps

By Zarkon Group,

Evelyn Lee is the Head of Workplace Strategy and Innovation at Slack Technologies, founder of Practice of Architecture, and co-host of the podcast, Practice Disrupted. She takes inspiration from her experience in tech and outside of the profession to reimagine practice operations for firms.

The great resignation, the shesession, labor shortages, burnout and a reprioritization of life priorities have made culture conversations much more topical, but they aren’t new. This article explores some new(er) and old(er) organizations that have been making strides to address culture change at all points within the profession, starting in school.

The following is Part II of the three-part series looking at the need to redesign the culture of architecture.

  • Part I defined culture and explored recent events that bring to light the increasing need for cultural change at the industry level.
  • Part II looks deeper at the history of organizations working to change the profession’s culture for over a decade.
  • Part III looks at how to intentionally create a values-based teaching and learning culture.

Studio Culture in Architecture Schools

In their design for the Abedian School of Architecture in QLD, Australia, Crab Studio sought to rethink the traditional bounds of architecture’s pedagogical spaces. 

Cultural change became a focus of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) in the late 1990s. It was made official by forming the first AIAS Studio Culture Task Force in 2000. The task force was created in response to unhealthy culture within architecture schools and a particular event where a student lost their life in a vehicular accident after leaving the studio with little sleep. Findings from the first task force were published in the 2002 report, The Redesign of Studio Culture.

That report opened conversations between the AIAS and the National Architecture Accreditation Board (NAAB) to add a Studio Culture Policy as one of their conditions for accreditation in 2004. However, a subsequent report in 2008 found that many things have stayed the same within studio culture with their publication, Toward an Evolution of Studio Culture.

I had the opportunity to sit down with 2007-2008, AIAS President and Vice Presidents on Season One of my podcast, Practice Disrupted, to talk with Andrew Caruso and Anthony Vankey, respectively, on their perspective of how Studio Culture translates into practice. Unsurprisingly some of the areas of concern that they address remain unchanged.

The subsequent report by the AIAS Advocacy Advisory Group, Studio Culture: Stories and Interpretations, published in 2016, raised questions about the lack of enforcement of school culture policies. Most students were unaware that a Studio Culture document/policy existed at their school, and the same individuals surveyed expressed a desire to have greater collaboration between students and faculty on conversations around studio culture.

In 2020 the AIAS redefined Studio Culture as a Learning & Teaching Culture to expand the conversation of culture to that of the students, teachers, and administrators. The subsequent AIAS Model Learning & Teaching Culture Policy is top of mind of the current 22-23 AIAS President, Cooper Moore, who notes that “The future of Learning and Teaching Culture needs to be student-led since students are the ones living it, although no culture can be truly healthy without input from all parties involved. The AIAS is committed to leading an inclusive and collaborative effort among allied organizations in the coming year to address the current environment and build a healthier and more positive culture for future architects and faculty alike.”

Separately, in a grassroots initiative. Alvin Zhu, a current M Arch student at UNSW Sydney, launched a docu-series called “Critiquing Architecture School” to bring to light the student perspective in University and bring about positive change on a broader scale.

Studio Culture in Practice

Alexander House (AH) is the home of Alexander &CO., (where their 24-person team actually works!). The purpose-built live/work set up aiming to challenge preconceptions of home, land, family and work. Conceived as a design laboratory, the space rethinks studio culture by supporting a diversity of uses including working environments for both collaboration, meeting and solo time. 

The architectural labor movement, particularly unionization, is relatively new. However, there have been two previously successful union attempts in the US. The first was in 1933 with the Federation of Architects, Engineers, Chemists and Technicians (FAECT), and the second was in 1934 with the formation of the Architectural Guild of America. By the 1950s, FAECT was defunct, and the Architectural Guild of America evolved to support engineers and construction workers, though, despite the name, architects were not included. Later, In the 1970s there was a failed bid by SOM’s San Francisco office to unionize.

Then, in 2013 the Architecture Lobby was launched to demystify architecture’s labor conditions, especially illegal and humane practices, and value its workers as much more than starving artists. Most recently, coming out of the SHOP Architects’ bid for a union, Architectural Workers United (AWU) was launched.

AWU is today affiliated with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) union. It is “a collaborative project with the goal of building on the tremendous inherent value the profession offers the industry, but is not recognized nor rewarded for.” The AWU has a full-time employee working on their behalf and coordinating several efforts.

I had the opportunity to sit down with AWU’s Andrew Daley and assistant professor at Rhode Island School of Design, Jess Meyers, to have an open conversation about the Architecture Labor Movement last year, including questions about misconceptions and benefits from unionization within the profession.

Late last year, efforts from AWU resulted in Bernheimer Architecture creating the Industry’s only Private-Sector Union, hoping “to prompt changes to industry-wide problems like long hours and low pay.”

Outside of the Union conversations, there’s been an uptick in the industry’s interest in mental health and burnout. In 2021 Monograph launched its State of Burnout in Architecture survey, stating that the Coronavirus pandemic didn’t cause burnout for architects but made it worse for 90% of its 225 respondents. In 2022, following their article “We Need a Safe Place to Address Our Mental Health,” the authors are working together to coordinate an effort similar to LAP, or the Lawyer’s Assistance Program, in an attempt to help those within the industry who struggle with anything from anxiety, burnout, depression, to substance abuse.

Redesigning Culture Going Forward

Steven Holl Architects‘ Nanjing Museum of Art and Architecture explores shifting viewpoints, an apt metaphor for the multi-perspectival type of rethinking the industry requires. 

Firms are currently operating in an employee marketplace. 86% of respondents in the February 2023 AIA Architecture Billings Index (ABI) reported that recruiting architecture staff continues to be an issue at their firm, with 62% saying it is a significant issue.

This has led many individuals to discuss the need to fill the architecture pipeline, but ACSA’s most recent survey on Budget and Enrollment Survey Results shows a continuous growth in applications and corresponding faculty load. The greater question we need to ask is, are we truly experiencing a labor shortage, or do we find ourselves in a position where we are struggling to keep those who we already have in the pipeline?

The best way forward is to chart a new path and understand that organizational culture within a business is a strategic advantage to attracting and retaining talent. In Part III of the series on evolving culture, we look at the importance and history behind Petter Drucker’s famous saying, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” As well as some tactics that architecture firms can implement to have meaningful conversations with their employees on creating a culture that supports their individual needs and creates high-performing teams.

Browse the Architizer Jobs Board and apply for architecture and design positions at some of the world’s best firms. Click here to sign up for our Jobs Newsletter.

Reference

Embedding climate action in company culture 
CategoriesSustainable News

Embedding climate action in company culture 

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s synthesis report contains a final warning to the world of the dangers of not keeping climate change to 1.5 degrees Celsius or below. With temperatures already 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures, there is a very slim window of time to push carbon emissions to a peak before they must rapidly decline. And Canadian startup Carbon Neutral Club has spotted a gap between corporate intentions and results that is slowing down progress.

More than 70 per cent of companies are setting sustainability goals, yet very few are achieving them, something that researchers say comes down to a lack of agreement on what to do and how to take action. Carbon Neutral Club helps reduce that uncertainty by turning employees into the driver of a company’s climate change work. The Club’s Sustainable Behaviours Platform supports workforce Climate Culture through personal carbon footprint measurements, Scope 3 measurements, team action goals, carbon offsets, and sustainable rewards.

Scope 3 measurements help employees choose the most sustainable travel and food options while providing detailed company-wide emissions reports. Carbon offsets support science-backed, third-party verified carbon emission reduction projects, and the Club provides a database of sustainable brands that give participants discounts on products. Carbon Neutral Club is available to individuals as well as companies of all sizes, and although currently available only in North America, the company plans to expand globally as quickly as possible. A recent $1.4 million CAD funding round will be used to support that expansion.

Timely, quality data is crucial in the fight to stop irreparable climate damage. Springwise has spotted innovations like an energy-tracking platform and supply chain decarbonisation support that are helping companies make sense of the volume of information and then translate that data into effective change. 

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference

Yabu Pushelberg references multi-faceted LA culture in conjoined hotels
CategoriesInterior Design

Yabu Pushelberg references multi-faceted LA culture in conjoined hotels

By Zarkon Group,

Canadian design studio Yabu Pushelberg has created the Moxy and AC Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles to encapsulate a variety of references to the surrounding city.

The two hotels were placed side by side within a Gensler-designed building in central Los Angeles, with Yabu Pushelberg carrying out the design for both hotels.

The designers used a variety of LA-oriented references across both hotels, referencing local artist culture, streetlife, the desert, as well as the imagery of movies from Hollywood.

Moxy hotel lobby with motorcycle
The Moxy Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles was designed based on deserts and cinema

“Moving making and the California Dream are all mashed up together to create this atmosphere,” studio co-founder George Yabu told Dezeen.

“We also captured the grittiness,” added co-founder Glenn Pushelberg. 

The hotels were designed to complement each other, providing various experiences for guests, who the team hopes can be staying in one while visiting the bars and restaurants of the others.

Moxy Hotel Los Angeles lobby
Yabu Pushelberg wanted to challenge guests with a sense of “grittiness”

According to the duo, the hotels are meant to be the day and nighttime versions of the same person or “like the same person in different movies”.

AC Hotel provides a more work-oriented vision and the Moxy representing a more dimly lit atmosphere.

Plush furniture in Moxy lounge
The Moxy includes lounge areas with plush furniture

Using desert themes and references to the 1969 film Easy Rider starring Peter Fonda, the Moxy has rammed earth walls, woven wall hangings and homages to motorcycle culture with a custom pouf designed with Harley Davidson in mind. It even has a motorcycle in the lobby lounge.

“If you look at the materialities and colors and textures, it is kind of off-off, which makes it on,” said Pushelberg. 

AC hotel with custom Yabu Pushelberg rug and wall hanging
AC Hotel is more restrained

Also in the Moxy’s lobby is a snakeskin-like carpet with a graphic of a snake.

The hotel includes studio spaces above the lobby with neon lights and plush furniture; minimal rooms with tile and stone walls; and a bar inspired by the “roadside gas station” with mottled stone countertops, metal mesh liquor cabinets and “cocoon-like” chairs.

Black table in Hotel AC Los Angeles
The AC Hotel is meant to evoke the artist’s loft

The AC Hotel is more restrained. The lobby is on the 34th floor and was designed to evoke the “artist’s loft” with views of the city below. Materials were inspired by Spanish architecture – such as textured plaster and stucco.

These details continue throughout the bars, guestrooms and library lounge, with the addition of wooden sculptures and dark black tile.

Yabu Pushelberg designed the carpets in the guest rooms to “reflect the geometric pattern and color story found throughout the hotel” and contrast the birch wood flooring.

According to the team, the hotels together are meant to bring together a variety of local influences to attract people to the downtown core.

“It’s a ​​perfect time for the hotels to be there because all these different types of people have never ever had a reason to go downtown,” said Pushelberg, who referenced the growing gallery scene in the area as an additional inspiration.

Hotel AC lobby overlooking Los Angeles
The AC’s lobby is on the 34th floor of the building

The design follows a slew of other hotels designed for LA’s downtown, including Hotel Per La designed by Jaqui Seerman, which occupies a 1920s bank building.

A division of Marriot, Moxy has dozens of hotels around the world, including a recent addition in New York’s Lower East Side designed by Michaelis Boyd and Rockwell Group.

Reference

BC designs Francis Gallery LA to celebrate Korean art and culture
CategoriesInterior Design

BC designs Francis Gallery LA to celebrate Korean art and culture

By Zarkon Group,

Gallerist Rosa Park has opened a space in Los Angeles to showcase the work of Korean artists and designers, with interiors by local studio BC intended to reflect the country’s visual culture.

Francis Gallery LA is Park’s second location and is an expansion of her original gallery in Bath, UK – both presenting the work of emerging Korean artists.

Dark walls at Francis Gallery LA
Places of worship informed the interiors of the gallery on Melrose Avenue

Situated on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood, the new space was designed with Lindsey Chan and Jerome Byron, founders of LA-based BC.

The duo preserved the building while transforming the inside with references to traditional Korean architecture and art.

Paintings hung on walls
The inaugural exhibition displays the work of six artists, including photography by Koo Bohnchang

These include a curved partition wall influenced by a moon jar and a contemporary re-interpretation of a hanok courtyard.

“The space was conceived to pay homage to Korean art and design in subtle ways – whether it was in the curve of a partition wall, the colour palette of the interior paints, or the profile of a low bench in the courtyard,” said Park.

Corner view with window
BC designed the gallery to be pared-back yet warm

Places of worship like chapels and monasteries were also referenced in the design. These were accentuated by the use of “humble materials” and pared-back forms.

Although minimal, the intention was to ensure the gallery still felt warm and inviting, as well as provide an appropriate setting for the pieces on show.

Resin stools
Rahee Yoon’s translucent acrylic blocks are among the works on show

“I think this emotional connection to a space, to a work, is central to what I’m doing with Francis,” Park said.

“It was of great importance to me that the space acted as the ideal framework to house works that I hope will move people.”

The inaugural exhibition at Francis Gallery LA is titled Morning Calm, on view until 7 January 2023, and features the work of six artists of Korean descent.

Bo Kim, John Zabawa, Koo Bohn Chang, Nancy Kwon, Rahee Yoon and Song Jaeho are all at different stages in their careers.

Stones VI by John Zabawa
An abstract painting by John Zabawa hangs on a dark wall

Their painting, photography, sculpture and ceramics all explore Korean identity in an international context and offer insights into the artists’ cultural heritage.

“With Los Angeles being home to the largest Korean community in the United States and Park having roots in both Seoul and LA, the debut show seeks to explore the nuanced connections between the two places,” said a statement from the gallery.

Courtyard with low bench
References to Korean architecture at the gallery include a contemporary interpretation of a traditional hanok courtyard

LA’s art scene has grown exponentially over the past decade, and the city is now home to many new galleries and exhibition spaces.

Well-known names that have opened their own locations there include Hauser & Wirth and The Future Perfect, while others like Marta are using modernist buildings like Neutra’s VDL II House to exhibit.

The photography is by Rich Stapleton.

Reference

Digital technology and a floating museum bring contemporary art and culture to the people
CategoriesSustainable News

Digital technology and a floating museum bring contemporary art and culture to the people

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: The impact of digital technologies on the world of art has been nothing short of transformative. From online platforms that make it easier for amateur artists to connect with their audience, to virtual tours that allow us to experience historical works up close, technology has completely redefined how we interact with, understand, and appreciate art in all its forms.

Perhaps no organisation embodies this shift better than Art Explora, a cutting-edge initiative that is shaking up the art world by making contemporary art accessible to everyone. The French foundation was created in November 2019 by entrepreneur Frédéric Jousset. Its mission is to reduce the cultural divide by bringing works of art to new, large, and diverse audiences.

Art Explora has developed a groundbreaking digital art history platform in collaboration with Sorbonne Université. This cutting-edge platform is designed to be accessible to users around the globe and offers intuitive interfaces that make it easy for anyone to explore art from all periods and styles. Through its unique journeys of discovery—which range from ancient Egyptian art to contemporary works—users of Art Explora are able to explore a wide variety of artistic styles and techniques in an engaging and interactive way. And by testing their knowledge through a series of quizzes and challenges, users can earn a valuable certificate that shows their level of expertise.

Another recent initiative from Art Explora is a new mobile museum, which has been christened the ‘MuMo’ and is a joint effort between Art Explora, the Centre Pompidou, and the MuMo Foundation. The truck will tour France in 2022 and Europe in 2023, bringing two themed annual exhibitions to each location. The exhibitions will be curated from the collections of the Centre Pompidou, as well as from other major European institutions. The MuMo will also host educational programs and workshops for children and adults alike. This unique opportunity to experience art from around the world will be an invaluable addition to the cultural landscape.

Art Explora also plans to bring art to the waves by converting one of the world’s largest catamarans into a mobile digital art museum. The floating museum is due to set sail from Marseille for various locations in the Mediterranean basin in September 2023.

Other Art Explora initiatives include the installation of ‘short story dispensers’ at the Armand Trousseau Children’s Hospital, and a residency programme enabling artists and researchers to carry out research and creation work in the heart of one of the most iconic and vibrant districts of Paris.

Other recent art and culture innovations spotted by Springwise include an online storytelling platform for female and under-represented filmmakers, an AR art exhibition embedded in the London landscape, and remote art tours via robots.

Written By: Katrina Lane

11th May 2022

Website: artexplora.org

Contact: artexplora.org/en/contact

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