Princeton Professor V. Mitch McEwen has been named the new curator of IdeasCity, a collaborative and creative platform run by the New Museum in New York City that “addresses challenges and opportunities arising in urban reconstruction,” according to the initiative’s website. McEwen will be working on the IdeasCity biennial, leading a platform for designers, artists, technologists, and policymakers to collaborate on ideas and solutions in exploring the future of cities. According to a statement from the New Museum, McEwen “will steer the framework for the 2018-19 cities and launch an open call for cities around the world to apply for the 2020-21 cycle.”
McEwen is the principal and cofounder of A(n) Office, a Detroit– and New York-based studio that explores topics of architecture and exhibition with partner Marcelo López-Dinard. McEwen received grants from the Graham Foundation, the Knight Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts and has exhibited work as part of the U.S. Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, and the Istanbul Design Biennial. In addition to holding an assistant professorship at Princeton University School of Architecture, McEwen has taught at the University of Michigan, and Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.
McEwen stated, “The New Museum, an institution founded by curators, has consistently advocated for artists as idea leaders. IdeasCity brings that ethos to the streets and a broader public to accelerate the kind of creative knowledge-sharing that opens new possibilities in our everyday lives. There’s a responsibility right now—at this seemingly precarious moment—to not be shy or afraid, but to be bolder than ever and make the most of the connections we have with each other.”
McEwen tells AN that she is thrilled to collaborate with the New Museum team to curate the upcoming cycle of IdeasCity, which connects directly to the work she does as a designer and professor of architecture who “engages with the intersection of technology, ecology, urban culture, and spatial politics.”
According to Princeton SoA’s website, “McEwen Studio projects in Detroit have produced a series of operations on houses previously owned by the Detroit Land Bank Authority. These include a combined residence and flower incubator for an engineer at 3M, a strategy for 100 houses selected by the City of Detroit to densify the neighborhood of Fitzgerald, and an award-winning repurposing of a balloon-frame house titled House Opera.”
McEwen begins the new position this month.
