Alongside the international symposium “Can design change society?” (September 18–19, 2015), a pop-up exhibition in the lower lobby of the Haus der Kulturen der Welt will showcase 25 project prototypes centred on the theme.

Classical modernism – the Bauhaus in particular – stands for an idea of design, one which we tend to characterize in a social and emancipatory sense. Our aim is to use different, sometimes even contradictory models as a base for transformation. These range from approaching lifestyle reformation by tackling individual living practices to central planning such as mechanization and socialism, which can take on totalitarian characteristics. About a dozen examples in the first part of the exhibition relay essential prototypes of the historical avantgarde and speak to their contemporary relevance.

The second part of the exhibition presents current examples, to illustrate different strategies by which contemporary designers are building projects to pursue an idea of a better life. Each project shares the characteristic of relativizing the role of the designer. The designer is no longer imagined as the heroic artist / engineer of the new Man and society, but aims at a dialogue to shape social processes – such as the production of desire, criticism, scenarios, and living laboratories.

Includes works by Jean-Nicolas-Louis Durand, Walter Gropius, Richard Kauffmann, Alexander Klein, Kasimir Malewitsch, Ernst May, Alfred Messel / Berliner Spar- und Bauverein, Nikolaj Miljutin, Reinhold Rossig, Rudolf Steiner, Bruno Taut, Mies van der Rohe, Theo van Doesburg, Vegetarische Obstbaukolonie Eden e.G.m.b.H, Martin Wagner

Architecture 00, Assemble, Center for Urban Pedagogy, City of Amsterdam, Didier Faustino, Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, Dunne & Raby, Förderverein Berliner Schloss e. V., Good Mood Lda, Greenpeace, Holzmarkt e.G., Kuehn Malvezzi, Lacaton & Vassal, Van Bo Le-Mentzel, raumlaborberlin, Recetas Urbanas / Santiago Cirugeda, SMAQ, Schultes Frank Architekten, The Yes Men, West 8, Zones Urbaines Sensibles

Opening discussion on September 2, 2015 at 19:00 with Jesko Fezer, Christa Kamleithner, Mateo Kries, Philipp Oswalt, Jörg Petruschat. Moderation by Anh-Linh Ngo. Discussion in German.