WE NEED NEW CONCEPTS

INST (inst-inst-inst.org) is an initiative for the dissemination of the cultural dimension of architecture. INST is a place for trans-disciplinary reflection and for the experimentation with new media and forms of communication.

Spring-Summer 2020 Concepts, INST’s launch exercise, seeks to create a collection of new foundational concepts for the project that is just beginning.

INST called for the invention of neologisms capable of naming new realities, behaviors, desires, and architectures. Binge, bitcoin, burnout, cloud, Covid-19, drone, fracking, hacker, hashtag, meme, selfie, timeline, wearable, workaholic are examples of words or meanings that have emerged in the face of new phenomena that demand to be named, and that could, as a whole, define our time.

We are currently living in fast paced times with unpredictable changes that keep us incapable of understanding and enunciating what we are experiencing or what is yet to come. Language must be updated rapidly to put our time into words. But, what if the creation of a neologism preceded reality to transform it?

MANY VOICES, MANY LANGUAGES

This dINSTionary is a collective toolbox for INST to start operating. To that end, it exists in many voices: 125 neologisms, collaborations by 72 authors in groups or individually from 17 different countries.

A third of these new concepts were selected through an Open Call that aimed to explore a vast gamma of interests and subjects pertinent to our times. Besides that, invitations to contribute were extended to various professionals, teachers and personalities related to architecture and design. And finally, INST, faithful to its interests as a space for contemporary discussion, also added a set of its own neologisms.

To remain plural, the dINSTctionary does not have an official language and each concept received was published in its original form. In that way, definitions in English, Portuguese and Spanish coexist together, as well as references to other languages, emojis and images.

SEVERAL WAYS TO SHARE IT (AND WEAR IT)

This dINSTionary has multiple formats.

As a downloadable document, it can be acquired and printed freely by anyone interested in using it as a toolbox of concepts, physically or virtually. As a set of images, it will be shareable in social media to potentialize its reach and transformative capacity.

Besides being a dictionary, this project is also a catalog. The set of low-resolution mock-ups that accompany the neologism’s definitions seeks to illustrate the plurality of ends these new concepts can reach. They can be worn!

As a fashion collection, it seeks to avoid the unnecessary overproduction of materials. So, this collection will be appropriable by anyone, customizable and produced on-demand, adopting a clean and responsible way to share ideas publicly.