Public design biennale / civic exhibition platform
Open brief150 · Public design biennale / civic exhibition platform
Assembly 150 is a fictional city-wide design biennale occupying workshops, libraries, depots, kitchens, sports halls and public streets. Rather than one exhibition hall, the identity is a navigable civic index connecting making, infrastructure, repair, food, movement and public learning.
About / field note
Assembly 150 is a fictional city-wide design biennale occupying workshops, libraries, depots, kitchens, sports halls and public streets. Rather than one exhibition hall, the identity is a navigable civic index connecting making, infrastructure, repair, food, movement and public learning.
Reading room
A biennale can leave behind a procurement rule, not a sculpture. A working note from Assembly 150 on the decisions hidden inside public design biennale / civic exhibition platform. It connects the claim back to programme room and names where professional judgement or uncertainty remains.
Public access starts with transport and timing. A working note from Assembly 150 on the decisions hidden inside public design biennale / civic exhibition platform. It connects the claim back to host, location, access note, capacity, material source, opening time and public outcome and names where professional judgement or uncertainty remains.
Exhibitions about systems should include the people who operate them. A working note from Assembly 150 on the decisions hidden inside public design biennale / civic exhibition platform. It connects the claim back to host, location, access note, capacity, material source, opening time and public outcome and names where professional judgement or uncertainty remains.
Offerings
City-wide exhibitions is scoped through the programme room, with host, location, access note, capacity, material source, opening time and public outcome. The boundary, exclusions and handover evidence are stated before work begins.
Open workshops is scoped through the programme room, with host, location, access note, capacity, material source, opening time and public outcome. Capacity, constraints and decision ownership stay visible from intake to closeout.
Public design forums is scoped through the programme room, with host, location, access note, capacity, material source, opening time and public outcome. The boundary, exclusions and handover evidence are stated before work begins.
Neighbourhood night routes is scoped through the programme room, with host, location, access note, capacity, material source, opening time and public outcome. Capacity, constraints and decision ownership stay visible from intake to closeout.
Method / sequence
Invite a real civic question is the entry control point for a programme room. The team records host, location, access note, capacity, material source, opening time and public outcome so the next decision is made from an explicit state, not memory or assumption.
Pair it with a host place is the next control point for a programme room. The team records host, location, access note, capacity, material source, opening time and public outcome so the next decision is made from an explicit state, not memory or assumption.
Build an encounter, not a display is the next control point for a programme room. The team records host, location, access note, capacity, material source, opening time and public outcome so the next decision is made from an explicit state, not memory or assumption.
Publish what remains afterward is the next control point for a programme room. The team records host, location, access note, capacity, material source, opening time and public outcome so the next decision is made from an explicit state, not memory or assumption.
Projects
Archive 1
Utility operators, plumbers and residents mapped invisible night flows through a working pump station and a public listening installation.
Archive 2
Electronics technicians, tailors, bicycle mechanics and policymakers debated repair access while fixing real objects in the same hall.
Archive 3
Bus drivers, wheelchair users, delivery riders and street designers tested three temporary curb layouts over one live weekend.
People
Artistic director
Zola Mbeki leads artistic director and owns the decisions that touch each programme room. The role is described by responsibility, not decorative biography.
City producer
Niels Jacobs leads city producer and owns the decisions that touch each programme room. The role is described by responsibility, not decorative biography.
Access & public programme
Amara Naidoo leads access & public programme and owns the decisions that touch each programme room. The role is described by responsibility, not decorative biography.
Evidence
50
programme rooms
17
host neighbourhoods
63%
fictional events free with no booking
30 days
public record published after close
Objections / answers
Contact
