Winy Maas Named Strelka Curator

According to program director Anastasia Smirnova, The Strelka Institute – one of the 10 "spaces for learning" we presented last year – is approaching its fifth year (and potentially the last on its current site on an island in the Moscow River, given an initial five-year lease) as "the right time to 'zoom out' and focus more on the big fundamental issues that concern Russia and the whole world."

She further states: "Instead of choosing one theme for the whole year [as in previous years], we are going to formulate ten different questions about what our life would be like in 10, 20, 30 years and what will characterize the role of those who can be quite literally called "the designers of tomorrow." The school is "discussing 15 potentially important trends," 10 of them selected by experts for the upcoming school year.

As curator of the 2014/15 school year, Dutch architect and urbanist Winy Maas will play a large role in formulating these trends/questions, which will determine the briefs that students design for their research and design projects. Considering the school's atypical scenario of no studios or directors, the students will rely on each other ("researching topics and devising projects in small groups of 2-3 people" per Smirnova) as well as Maas and other foreign experts that will spend time at the school.