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by Mitch McEwen

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    When an emerging design firm gets an office in downtown Manhattan for $1

    Mitch McEwen
    Jul 30, '14 7:09 PM EST

    My collaborators and I have recently secured an office space in downtown Manhattan to lease for $1.  That's one dollar.  It's a pristine storefront, ideal location between the Lower East Side and Chinatown (easy biking from Brooklyn and 1 block from the Grand St subway).  Wifi and utilities included.  What's the catch?  It's for one month only.  

    The arrangement is through a gallery called P!, and the whole set-up is part of a lead-up to their big fall exhibition on Speculation.

    Operating as A(n) Office, my design collaborators and I are continuing to evolve a practice with ruthless opportunism, both conceptual and practical.

    What would you do with an office in downtown Manhattan for one month?  What are your speculations?  



     
    • 6 Comments

    • davvid

      Sublet it to me for $10/mo.

      Jul 30, 14 8:27 pm  · 
       · 
      x-jla

      I would set up a few desks but leave the doors open to the public...Display your work and use the space as an open exhibit for the month. You will probably make some good contacts. 

      Jul 31, 14 7:45 pm  · 
       · 

      Broken City Lab did a great project with their storefront in Windsor, the Letter Library.  They created a bunch of large foam letters, put them in a storefront, and allowed people to check out a word and a disposable camera.  Then the borrowers placed the word around the city, took photos, and submitted them for an exhibit.  Really lovely civic participation project.

      Aug 1, 14 9:17 pm  · 
       · 

      Thank you for these great comments and references.  We have been, indeed, leaving the doors open.  Marcelo intelligently displayed one of his publication projects, and a curator from Hong Kong happened to stop by and show interest. 

      Aug 7, 14 5:20 pm  · 
       · 
      Koww

      Maybe offer a place to stay for some homeless people? Or would that be too kind?

      Apr 12, 16 12:36 am  · 
       · 
      ∑ π ∓ √ ∞

      You plan on going back in time Koww?

      Apr 18, 16 10:37 pm  · 
       · 

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