Winner of 2021 2x8 Exhibition Design Competition
PORO-City: Colorful, Porous Milk Crates
Selected as the Exhibit Skeleton for “2x8”
Selected as the Exhibit Skeleton for “2x8”
The Architecture for Communities Los Angeles 2x8 Committee is delighted to announce the winner of its recent Exhibition Design Competition. “PORO-City” will serve as the installation mechanism for a November 2021 city-wide show of work by architecture students, 2x8: Assemblies.
PORO-City Team: Chieh-Ting Chuang, Assoc. AIA; Martha Kriley, Assoc. AIA; Yushan Men; and Kyoung Eun Park.
PORO-City Team: Chieh-Ting Chuang, Assoc. AIA; Martha Kriley, Assoc. AIA; Yushan Men; and Kyoung Eun Park.
In the winning scheme, titled PORO-City, colorful milk crates function as a brick system that is neither transparent nor solid, housing the exhibit without imposing a hard boundary.
In recognizing PORO-City’s design, the competition jury noted that the "bright colors, flexibility in design, and recognizable items" were a good way to "infiltrate the city." The porosity of the material gives the design a "discovery aspect," said the jury, that makes it "eye-catching, experiential, and fun to approach."
From the PORO-City Proposal
Packaging is often a means to an end. We receive a good, unwrap it, and discard the container. However some packaging, such as shipping crates and pallets, is designed for durability and reuse. These durable qualities often inspire use in ways other than originally intended. The same is true for the milk crate. While originally meant to transport milk cartons, they often appear in the most unlikely places, such as bookshelves, planters, or seating.
In this way, milk crates exemplify resourcefulness and the ability of people to create the extraordinary from the mundane. Just as milk crates are resilient and adaptable, so are the people and ever-evolving communities that put them to good use.
PORO-City creates a dialogue with the many types of community found in Los Angeles. Milk crates function as a brick system that is neither transparent nor solid, housing the exhibition without imposing a hard boundary.
In this way, milk crates exemplify resourcefulness and the ability of people to create the extraordinary from the mundane. Just as milk crates are resilient and adaptable, so are the people and ever-evolving communities that put them to good use.
PORO-City creates a dialogue with the many types of community found in Los Angeles. Milk crates function as a brick system that is neither transparent nor solid, housing the exhibition without imposing a hard boundary.
Crates are assembled to form undulating porous walls. They frame the city, creating views and further emphasizing the relationship between exhibition and site, while at the same time recalling breeze block walls, an iconic part of the LA landscape.
The modularity of the crate allows for flexibility and imagination, and its sturdy construction makes it ideal for reuse. Like community, this material is constantly recombined and reinvented.
The modularity of the crate allows for flexibility and imagination, and its sturdy construction makes it ideal for reuse. Like community, this material is constantly recombined and reinvented.
The PORO-City exhibition design is both modular and flexible to be placed both indoor and outdoor, scattered throughout the city of LA. Each site location will have its own unique color to contrast and enhance each diverse neighborhood of LA. The crate openings are oriented to face either inward or outward along the curve, allowing them to be used as shelves and storage areas for the community.
The PORO-City Design Team is currently in communication with several community organizations to find a second home for our exhibition materials. We have collectively discussed ideas including shelving for clothes, planters for community gardening, and crates for food distribution.
The PORO-City Design Team is currently in communication with several community organizations to find a second home for our exhibition materials. We have collectively discussed ideas including shelving for clothes, planters for community gardening, and crates for food distribution.
2x8 Exhibit Design Competition Short Listed Proposals
