SAN FRANCISCO — In an era defined by rapid technological shifts and hyper-specialized design disciplines, the boundary lines separating art, architecture, computation, and urban engineering are increasingly blurred. Stepping directly into this dynamic threshold is METAXIS: A Collection of Ideas and Objects, a landmark retrospective exhibition featuring the work of the San Francisco-based interdisciplinary studio FUTUREFORMS.
Taking its philosophical cue from metaxi—an ancient Greek concept describing an in-between condition of belonging to two realms simultaneously—the exhibition invites viewers to contemplate the fluid space where ideas transform into tangible physical reality. Rather than treating design as a sequence of fixed steps leading to a final product, METAXIS frames the creative act as a continuous state of oscillation, tension, and dialogue. Through a rich array of exploratory models, digital prototypes, and site-specific public installations, the exhibition asks a fundamental question for the 21st-century designer: What does it truly mean to craft public art and architecture in a rapidly evolving world?
Main Facts: The Vision and Creators Behind METAXIS
At its core, METAXIS serves as both a retrospective of FUTUREFORMS’ first decade and a manifesto for cross-disciplinary spatial design. The exhibition is deliberately curated to mirror an intimate studio visit. Rather than hiding the trial-and-error of conceptualization behind polished final renderings, the gallery displays raw process models alongside finished works. This curatorial choice underscores how FUTUREFORMS synthesizes disparate fields—including sculpture, advanced computation, structural engineering, and urban planning—into cohesive public experiences.
FUTUREFORMS is led by the visionary partnership of Jason Kelly Johnson and Nataly Gattegno.
- Jason Kelly Johnson, born in Canada in 1973, received his foundational education at the University of Virginia and Princeton University. Alongside his leadership at FUTUREFORMS, Johnson serves as the founding director of the Digital Craft Lab in Architecture at the California College of the Arts (CCA).
- Nataly Gattegno, born in Greece in 1977, was educated at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom and Princeton University. She currently holds the position of Chair of the Graduate Architecture program at CCA.
The duo has taught at CCA since 2009, embedding their rigorous academic inquiries into digital fabrication, environmental sensing, and material experimentation directly into their professional practice. Together, Johnson and Gattegno have established FUTUREFORMS as a pioneer in public art and architecture, proving that municipal infrastructure and community spaces can be elevated into immersive, poetic experiences.
Chronology: A Decade of Shaping Public Realms
To understand the scope of METAXIS, it is helpful to trace the evolution of FUTUREFORMS over the past ten years. The studio’s trajectory illustrates a steady movement from theoretical digital computation toward large-scale, interactive public installations that actively shape urban life.
Phase One: Foundations and Digital Exploration (The Late 2000s to Mid-2010s)
Before founding FUTUREFORMS as a unified studio, Johnson and Gattegno spent years investigating the intersection of digital tools and physical construction within academic and experimental settings. Their early work leveraged parametric modeling, algorithmic design, and digital fabrication techniques pioneered at institutions like Princeton and CCA’s Digital Craft Lab. During this formative period, the studio focused heavily on prototyping—testing how materials could bend, fold, and react to environmental stimuli such as light, wind, and human proximity.
Phase Two: Scaling Up to the Urban Fabric (The Mid-2010s)
As their methodologies matured, FUTUREFORMS transitioned from small-scale pavilions and gallery exhibits into the realm of municipal public art. This period was marked by a series of site-specific commissions that tested how temporary or permanent installations could redefine neglected urban spaces. Projects began to incorporate embedded technologies, transforming static structures into responsive architectural elements that engaged passersby through kinetic motion or dynamic lighting.
Phase Three: Institutional Maturity and Retrospective Synthesis (The Present)
Today, FUTUREFORMS stands as a globally recognized practice whose public works dot urban landscapes, transportation hubs, and cultural centers. The debut of METAXIS marks a critical milestone: a moment of institutional reflection. By gathering ten years of physical artifacts, computational scripts, and architectural models into a single cohesive exhibition, the studio is not merely celebrating past successes; it is creating a pedagogical archive for the next generation of designers.
Supporting Data: The Interdisciplinary Anatomy of the Studio
The breadth of FUTUREFORMS’ practice relies on a synthesis of diverse operational tools and intellectual frameworks. The studio’s output can be broken down into several interconnected pillars:
- Multidisciplinary Integration: FUTUREFORMS regularly merges techniques from at least six distinct domains: fine art, traditional architecture, structural engineering, urban design, computational programming, and material science.
- Academic Pedagogy: Both co-founders maintain deep roots in higher education. Through their leadership roles at the California College of the Arts—Johnson leading the Digital Craft Lab and Gattegno chairing Graduate Architecture—the studio acts as an incubator for experimental architectural thinking, mentoring hundreds of students over the past fifteen years.
- Spatial Typologies: The studio’s portfolio spans multiple scales, ranging from intimate interior installations and speculative gallery pieces to massive public art monuments designed to foster community cohesion and civic identity.
- The "In-Between" Philosophy: Drawing from the Greek root metaxi, the studio’s work consciously targets spaces that defy binary categorization—such as the threshold between inside and outside, presence and absence, and nature and technology.
Official Perspectives: The Philosophy of the Threshold
While FUTUREFORMS operates heavily through physical form, their theoretical writings and curatorial statements for METAXIS offer deep insight into why they design the way they do. According to Johnson and Gattegno, modern architecture and public art too often suffer from a desire for absolute permanence and rigid categorization.
In exhibition literature for METAXIS, the studio articulates that public space in the 21st century cannot be treated as a static backdrop for human life. Instead, shared environments must be dynamic, participatory, and responsive to the shifting cultural and ecological conditions of our time.
"We are interested in the friction and the potential that exists when you refuse to let a project settle into a single definition," notes the studio’s design philosophy. By treating architecture as an ongoing dialogue rather than a finished product, FUTUREFORMS creates spaces that encourage citizens to pause, reflect, and engage with one another. The studio views the public realm not merely as infrastructure for movement, but as a canvas for collective memory and civic imagination.
Implications: What METAXIS Means for the Future of Architecture
The opening of METAXIS carries significant implications for the broader fields of architecture, urban design, and public art. As cities grapple with complex challenges—ranging from climate change and rapid urbanization to the rise of digital isolation—the need for human-centric, emotionally resonant public spaces has never been greater.
1. Re-evaluating the Role of the Architect
FUTUREFORMS challenges the traditional archetype of the architect as a master builder who hands down a finished, unchanging blueprint. By foregrounding the studio’s process models and messy iterations, METAXIS suggests that contemporary architects must act more like curators, scientists, and facilitators. The value of a design lies not just in its final form, but in the rigorous, multi-disciplinary journey required to bring it into existence.
2. Bridging the Gap Between Art and Infrastructure
Too often, public art is treated as an afterthought—an ornamental sculpture dropped onto a plaza after the civil engineering is complete. FUTUREFORMS demonstrates an alternative approach: one where art, architecture, and engineering are woven together from the very inception of a project. This holistic integration ensures that public installations do not just decorate a space, but fundamentally transform how people experience and move through it.
3. Fostering Community Participation Through Wonder
In an increasingly digital world, physical public spaces must offer experiences that screens cannot replicate. Through interactive materials, unexpected scales, and poetic geometries, FUTUREFORMS creates moments of wonder that invite strangers to connect. METAXIS serves as a timely reminder that the built environment has the power to foster empathy, spark curiosity, and build stronger, more resilient communities.
Ultimately, METAXIS is more than a retrospective of a decade’s work; it is a compass pointing toward the future of spatial design. By lingering in the in-between—the fertile ground where disciplines overlap and ideas collide—FUTUREFORMS proves that the most exciting architecture happens not at the destination, but right in the middle of the journey.
