In 2002 Jenna Didier transformed the parking lot in front of her studio into an open-air courtyard research center as an extension to her studio practice. Naming the center Materials & Applications(M&A), Didier’s intent was for this to be a shared space, a testbed to realize new and useful concepts in building and the landscape with other like-minded practitioners in civic space. The site became a place to experiment with public engagement at a scale proportional to the neighborhood, a space that was explored in collaboration with the community, reconfigured and used as a pocket park by everyone. Her social practice continued as it evolved into a non-profit organization that produced full-scale constructions and hosted discussions, workshops, performances and other public events in the courtyard accessible to the street 12-24 hours a day. From 2002-2014, Didier curated and collaborated on over 20 large-scale ambitious constructions and dozens of hands-on workshops, lectures, screenings, and tours. These award-winning projects can be seen in the M&A Archives and in an exhibition catalogue from the 2013 retrospective, M&A: Building Something Beyond Beautiful held at the University Art Museum at CalState Long Beach and funded by the NEA.
Materials & Applications continues as an institution guided by a new director. Its work continues to be dedicated to building an inclusive culture of experimental architecture. With a focus on architectural ideas and processes, M&A curates critical exhibitions and commissions new work by under-recognized architects, designers, and artists. The exhibitions give space to exceptional experiments across multiple disciplines while challenging the relationship between art, architecture, and public encounters.
M&A projects are no longer hosted in the courtyard in Silver Lake. M&A has expanded, with exhibitions in its storefront space at 1313 Sunset Blvd. and in a partnership with the Craft Contemporary, where M&A activates their courtyard space through hands-on workshops and exhibitions.
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