Exhibit Columbus: Architectural Installations Transforming Indiana’s Mid-Century City

The biennial festival Exhibit Columbus has returned for its fifth edition, filling the historic center of Columbus, Indiana, with bold architectural installations. Known worldwide for its concentration of mid-century modern architecture, the city once flourished under the patronage of J. Irwin Miller and now serves as an experimental stage where designers, architects, and educators create pavilions that blend history with contemporary imagination. This year’s theme, Yes And, emphasized improvisation and dialogue, inviting designers to respond to the city’s modernist icons while exploring new possibilities for civic space. From pools and hammocks to massive sound systems and bamboo shade structures, the event reaffirmed Columbus as a living laboratory of architectural innovation.

Architectural Interventions Across the City

Many installations directly engaged with the city’s mid-century landmarks. Designer Akima Brackeen created Pool/Side, a vivid purple pool in front of I. M. Pei’s library, reclaiming the typology of the reflection pool. Next to it stood Inside Out, a cuboid form carved with interior dioramas, produced by faculty at Washington University in St. Louis. Both works were funded through the University Design Research Fellowship, an initiative supporting academic innovation through open calls.

In another corner, Studio Cooke John transformed the courtyard at Eliel Saarinen’s First Christian Church with Lift—a grid of metal poles and hammocks designed to mirror the church’s clean lines and create a welcoming social space.

Miller Prize Installations

The festival’s highest recognition, the Miller Prize, supported a series of large-scale interventions. Studio Barnes installed Joy Riding, a powerful sound system on top of a parking garage with a publicly accessible Bluetooth connection, surrounded by speaker-shaped benches. AD—WO created Ellipsis, a bamboo-canopied structure on the site of a Victorian building destroyed by fire, symbolically addressing omitted Black and Indigenous histories while offering shade to festival visitors. Meanwhile, Adaptive Operations presented Accessing Nostalgia, a pavilion beside the historic Crump Theatre, designed from industrial materials to frame the building’s renovation in real time.

Industrial and Academic Contributions

Researchers from New Jersey Institute of Technology contributed The Steel Horsie, a geometric metal pavilion built from salvaged materials that referenced the area’s transportation history, from horse stables to railroads and contemporary logistics. Other contributions came from Cornell University, collaborative teams of designers and educators, and even local schools, reflecting Exhibit Columbus’s commitment to community engagement. All signage and graphics for the festival were designed by the LA-based studio Sing-Sing.

Community and Cultural Impact

Exhibit Columbus remains deeply rooted in civic participation. More than 300 attendees joined guided walking tours during opening weekend, highlighting the local embrace of the installations. However, not all works were universally accepted—one installation was removed after community pushback, underscoring the complex balance between experimentation and public perception. Nevertheless, many of the installations will remain in place through the fall, continuing to activate public spaces and reinforce Columbus as a hub for design dialogue.

Architectural Analysis

The design logic across the festival highlights contrasts between permanence and temporality. Installations like Joy Riding and Pool/Side transformed familiar spaces into dynamic public venues, reinterpreting civic infrastructure through playful yet functional interventions. Materially, the projects ranged from salvaged industrial scraps to refined bamboo structures, reflecting both sustainability and symbolism. Contextually, the festival deepened the dialogue between Columbus’s mid-century icons and contemporary practice, creating layered interpretations of place. Critically, one may ask whether temporary installations can truly engage with heritage, or if their transience risks trivializing it—but in fact, their ephemerality reinforces architecture’s role as an evolving cultural experiment.

Project Importance

Exhibit Columbus demonstrates the power of design to shape civic identity. It teaches architects and the public alike that interventions, whether temporary or permanent, can open new conversations about history, community, and the future of shared spaces. For the discipline, the festival reinforces the value of architectural experimentation outside traditional contexts. Its importance lies not just in the installations themselves, but in their ability to activate a city, engage its residents, and highlight architecture’s role as a tool for cultural dialogue and social gathering.

✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight

Exhibit Columbus excels in its ability to weave together history and contemporary exploration. The installations are diverse in material and form, yet unified by their responsiveness to context. The event raises critical questions about how architecture should interact with heritage—whether through mimicry, contrast, or symbolic excavation. By situating experimental pavilions alongside canonical mid-century works, the festival underscores that design is not static but dialogic, continually evolving through reinterpretation. This year’s edition reinforces the idea that civic architecture is not only built by institutions but co-created through community participation and artistic expression.

Conclusion

The fifth cycle of Exhibit Columbus reaffirmed the city’s role as a living archive and experimental ground for architecture. With installations spanning pools, hammocks, sound systems, bamboo canopies, and industrial scraps, the festival showcased the breadth of architectural creativity while rooting itself in community and heritage. Its ongoing presence highlights the potential of temporary design to spark lasting conversations, offering lessons in improvisation, inclusivity, and contextual awareness. Exhibit Columbus continues to stand as a vital example of how design festivals can merge experimentation with civic engagement, leaving both local residents and global visitors inspired.

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