The 2x8 Exhibition is a design competition and scholarship program that highlights students' work from various architecture and design institutions across California. Led by the AIA|LA, ARCHITECTURE FOR COMMUNITIES LOS ANGELES (ACLA), and the 2x8 Committee, this year's winning design is PORO-City by Chieh-Ting Chuang, Martha Kriley, Yushan Men, and Kyoung Eun Park. The project uses milk crates to function as a brick system that "is neither transparent nor solid, housing the exhibition without imposing a hard boundary," shares the design team.

As the official media partner of the Exhibition, Archinect and Bustler will be covering this year's event, projects, and student winners. What makes this particular exhibition design competition unique is its open call to design faculty, however this year the committee opened up the call to designers based in California. The competition's brief asks for designers to "design, build, and install the 2021 2x8 exhibition to showcase up to 40 student projects, distributed into 2 to 10 projects per site (roughly 4-6 sites)."

An ongoing goal of the 2x8 Exhibition's design is for the exhibition installation also to have a "second life." The production of the exhibit must also ensure minimal waste during its production, shares the exhibition program. "Submitted proposals are required to incorporate an innovative strategy for the reuse of the exhibition materials after the exhibit and future recycling potential." 

Due to last year's pandemic, the 2x8 Exhibition was held virtually for the first time. However, the 2x8 Exhibition is excited to plan for their in-person event and construct the winning design. According to the planning team, this year's exhibition theme will focus on Community. "The title of our 2021 exhibit is 2x8:Assemblies. The term 'Assemblies' can refer to groups of people gathering together as well as the process of building in which various parts are assembled to make a whole."

Following are images and details of the exhibition design.

2x8 Exhibition Designer Winner: PORO-City

Design Team: Chieh-Ting Chuang, Martha Kriley, Yushan Men, and Kyoung Eun Park

Packaging is often a means to an end. Some types of packaging are designed for durability and reuse. These qualities often inspire use in ways other than originally intended. With the help of community organizations in LA, exhibition materials will be collected and repurposed for this design. The crates will house the exhibition without imposing a hard boundary. The undulating porous walls will frame the city and create views that will further emphasize the relationship between exhibition and site, while at the same time recalling breeze block walls, an iconic part of the LA landscape. The modularity of the crate allows for flexibility and imagination, and its sturdy construction makes it ideal for reuse. Like community, this material is constantly recombined and reinvented.

The design team explains their plans for the design's "second life" after the Exhibition ends: "We are currently in communication with several community organizations to find a second home for our exhibition materials. We have collectively discussed ideas including shelving for clothes, planters for community gardening, and crates for food distribution."

*Stay tuned for more 2x8 Exhibition news and details on Archinect and Bustler.