Community speculates on the future uses of storefront spaces. A catalyst for new opportunities to utilise space and re-animate our high streets. Covid-19 has crystallised a social and economic movement bubbling beneath the surface of this past decade. We have seen mass introspection and a re-examination of how we live and want to live. How does the designer respond to issues of proximity now that we are forced apart yet desperate for global connection?

Existing businesses and tenancies now forced to re-address their relationship with the the High Street. We must speculate further on how these spaces can utilised and maximised. The storefronts of these spaces present an opportunity to re-imagine and re-invigorate our high streets, to define new kinds of communities – physically distanced yet closer together.

Alt Material has chosen these storefront opportunities as locations for its fifth exhibition. Sites that can engage with the street without the need to enter a physical space. Inviting designers to fabricate a piece of furniture or object that articulates and responds to the theme of community. Be it a functional response—such as an item of furniture—or an exploration of how do we might give form to Community as metaphor.