Design Without Authority
May 19 – June 11, 2023
ABC No Rio In Exile
Museum Of Reclaimed Urban Space and C-Squat
Curated By Renan Teuman

Featuring Work by Catherine Grau + Nathan Kensinger, Fly, George Bliss, John Szot, Kotti & Co, LOT-EK, Marwan Kaabour, Mohamed Nahleh, Nina Cooke John, Nof Nathansohn, Ross Martin and Xavier Delory.

Several of the site-specific art projects curated by Chance Ecologies are included in a new exhibit titled “Design Without Authority” created by ABC No Rio and exhibited at the Museum Of Reclaimed Urban Space and C-Squat.

“Design Without Authority” speaks to autonomous action, and building without authority in architecture and design. The project borrows lessons from an ad hoc approach often seen in the urban environment, where an abundance of improvised decisions, broken rules, unauthorized additions and constructions participate in the realization of the built environment. Can tacit architectural knowledge become ubiquitous, entering everyday life?

Today, the majority of people are disconnected from the design and production of the physical artifacts that participate in their lives. Exceptions can be found in urban squatting, activist architecture, DIY manuals, and self-assembly mechanisms. The work presented in this exhibition will question the relationship between top-down, controlled visions of authorities such as architects, planners, and governments, and propose a model that embraces improvisation and unpredictability that introduces make-do in architecture.