The other day I had the chance to catch a sneak peak of the upcoming exhibit What Has Architecture Done for You Lately?, curated by my good friend Zahra Ebrahim and archiTEXT.  The exhibit, opening on April 15, is trying to break down the conventional wisdom that architecture is for architects.  Instead, it suggests that in order for architecture to be a vehicle for social and environmental change, everyone must be an active part of design.

It asks “If a 5 year old were to design a refugee camp, what would it look like?”

One of archiTEXT’s most recent projects, the Toronto Idea Exchange, highlights their approach.  More than 100 people, including designers, teenagers, and bureaucrats, got together to generate ideas to tackle poverty in Ontario.  Participants went on to make physical models of what the architecture of equality (as opposed to poverty) might look like.  From there, archiTEXT is helping to write policy for the Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy, answering questions about how architecture can be used to address poverty issues in Ontario.

In the WHADFYL exhibit, Ebrahim will be asking some similar questions about architecture’s role in global issues like health, economics, and the environment.  Maybe in the future we’ll see archiTEXT in somewhere like Iraq, getting kids, soldiers and government together to lighten the load of rebuilding, and making sure that the people who have a vested interest in architecture (ie: people inhabiting the spaces) are involved.

The exhibit opens tomorrow, April 15 at the Design Exchange and runs until May 31.  Come for opening night, starting at 6pm on April 15.  Wear hot pink.

If you can’t make it, check out the live Twitter feed from the exhibit here.