OPEN CALL:Archipelago-Architectures for the Multiverse from HEAD and HEPIA

Organized by Geneva schools HEAD and HEPIA, Archipelago: Architectures for the Multiverse is the first edition of a digitally-anchored design conference arising from a partnership between three departments—architecture, interior architecture and landscape architecture—that will be broadcast from May 6-8, 2021, in Geneva.

Gathering New Relations
Archipelago: Architectures for the Multiverse invites you to sit within a present state of general and perpetual trouble and look closely at its many components. Archipelago is intended to be a pause for disaffiliated inquiry, bringing participants together on issues within and without contemporary design discourse. The event proposes an approach based on archipelagic thinking as a reaction to the dominance of continental modes of investigation.

Structured over three days, Archipelago employs a series of prompts to conceptualize concrete paths forward. The program begins by taking stock of the current state of design practice, proceeds to charting the emergent and newly-visible, and concludes by considering methods, models, and dissemination. These conversations are framed by and disseminated from the context of Geneva city, an urban center within the multinational milieu of Switzerland. They will be presented through a purpose-built scenography, which is itself an archipelago of variant capacities, connected and interwoven by the activity of online and in-person participants.

Our full program is forthcoming. Register here to stay in the loop.

Open call: What would you want to see in the Archipelago?
The Archipelago team invites students and recent graduates from around the world to investigate the blank areas within contemporary design discourse to generate an actionable idea that will occupy a corner of our schedule. There are no limitations to the subject of the proposal except that it must interact with notions of interiors, architecture, landscape and manifest at some point during the duration of the digital event in Geneva. Proposals should be somehow situated within the broad field of design study, and could materialize in multiple ways: digitally, physically or in-between, presenting new fascinations, long-term obsessions or sticky thoughts. Agitation to the status quo is necessary. Proposals should have a critical approach to content and its containers, and provide clear guidelines for the realization within the framework of an event of this kind.

While physical architectures play a part, the emphasis is on the light, candid, and flexible. Within our own research, we have come across pirate radio stations, public dinner parties, performative round tables, concerts, which could be plugged into the event whether in Geneva or from external (archipelagic) locations. There is ample existing infrastructure on-site, with standard power, water, and internet connection provided.

Archipelago seeks to center intergenerational and inclusive modes of inquiry. The invitation to speculate is blind and global. Projects developed from this open call sit alongside invited programming with equal weight.

Successful submissions will be further developed in collaboration with the Archipelago team for a Geneva-specific context. This is a paid opportunity: projects will receive an artistic and production fee.

All inquiries can be sent to info@archipelago-architectures.ch

Submission instructions
We ask you to fill out this form and submit a single PDF (Maximum 10MB) detailing the proposal by March 15, 2021. There are no limits regarding text, images, or page count. Applicants will hear back from the Archipelago team by the end of March.