New Affiliates Design Exhibitions that Expand the Imagination, Metropolis, Mar. 25, 2022.
The architecture office of New Affiliates has sometimes been warned by colleagues not to get pigeonholed as exhibition designers. Their response: “Why not? It’s kind of the dream.” Regular design commissions for show spaces like Hauser & Wirth, Park Avenue Armory, and The Shed have placed the young office, co-founded by Ivi Diamantopoulou and Jaffer Kolb in 2016, in close contact with the radical imaginaries of artists like Marc Camille Chaimowicz, Agnes Denes, Rashid Johnson, Rashaad Newsome, Martha Rosler, and Tomás Saraceno. Most recently, they designed Manhattan’s Jewish Museum’s current show, Jonas Mekas: The Camera Was Always Running with curator Kelly Taxter, in addition to the 2019 Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything.
“What has been particularly fun is just being in conversation,” says Diamantopoulou. “There is a very clear idea that everybody comes to the table with. We work with really intelligent curators who are like, ‘Here’s what I care to say. Here’s the thesis for the exhibition.’ We’re also super fortunate to work with artists who are well into their careers, very aware of their projects, and able to articulate what the space should be about.”
