Letters to the Mayor

Storefront for Art and Architecture announces the opening of Letters to the Mayor, a group exhibition presenting letters written by 50 international architects to the political leaders of ten cities around the world and showcasing the work of the finalists of Storefront's 2013 Competition of Competitions. Drawing on the complex relationship between architecture and the political powers that influence the built environment, Letters to the Mayor expresses concerns and desires of architects and citizens in the construction of our cities. Letters to the Mayor will be on display from April 30 to May 24, 2014 and an opening reception will take place on April 29 from 7-9pm with a members and press preview at 6pm.

The architect has the privilege and responsibility to articulate and translate the collective aspirations of an entire society, specifically those not able to sit at the decision-making tables. However, over the last two decades, the role of the architect in the political arena has often been reduced to answering questions that others have asked. Each letter, addressed to a prominent political figure in the author's city, provides a space of reflection for the architects to bring ideas, desires and methodologies that might contribute to action within political spheres around the world.

Alongside these letters, the exhibition displays the 18 finalists of the Competition of Competitions, an architectural competition produced by Storefront last year that invited architects and citizens to create a competition brief. With the intention to provoke long-standing conventions of the architecture competition, the Competition of Competitions attracted more than 100 entries, which were reviewed by a jury of professionals and visionaries including Amale Andraos (Architect, Work AC), Paola Anotonelli (Architecture Curator, MoMA), and Michael Sorkin (Architect and architecture critic).

The exhibition is thus a compilation of briefs, facts, claims, desires and dreams for the construction of our cities, their future foundations and horizons. All competition briefs and letters will be sent to each respective Mayor after being presented at the gallery.

The exhibition will feature letters by Frida Escobedo, Catherine Ingraham, Julia King, María Langarita, Jing Liu, Elizabeth O'Donnell, Saskia Sassen, Nathalie de Vries, Sarah Whiting, Marisa Yiu, Mimi Zeiger, and more.

The winners of the Competition of Competitions will be announced at the public opening of the exhibition on April 29 at 7pm.