GUGGENHEIM Foundation & BMW Launch Global Initiative 9.10.2010

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Museum and the BMW Group have announced the launch of a global initiative designed to engage the next generation of architecture, art, science, design, technology, and education leaders in addressing challenges likely to face the cities of the future.

The BMW Guggenheim Lab will bring together teams of early- to mid-career professionals identified as emerging leaders in their fields to develop new concepts and designs around a specific theme. Three different labs, each with its own architect, graphic designer, and theme, will travel around the world in separate, consecutive two-year cycles. Site-specific workshops, public discussions, performances, and formal and informal gatherings will tie the lab into the everyday fabric of a city. At the conclusion of each three-city cycle, an exhibition exploring issues addressed at the different sites will be presented at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

The first lab will be launched next summer in North America, where the team will present its programming through the fall of 2011 before moving to cities in Europe and Asia. The Tokyo-based architecture firm Atelier Bow-Wow has been commissioned to design the first lab, while the Seoul-based firm Sulki & Min will create the lab's graphic identity.

"Our collaboration with BMW brings together three kinds of expertise — an international museum, international design firms, and emerging talents from a number of different fields — for a research-and-development project with almost limitless potential," said Guggenheim Foundation director Richard Armstrong. "We are grateful to BMW for their collaboration on this adventurous project and greatly respect the company's long-standing commitment to design, architecture, and the arts."