Poly, 2013 by Egg Collective x Hangar Design Studios. From left, Satin Bronze Master, Etched Bronze Master, Plaster Castings.    (Photo: Courtesy of Reclaim x2)

The Heart of Public Space
After stints in Times Square and Dumbo, public artwork Heartwalk is returning to its point of origin—one of them, anyway. Situ Studio’s 30-foot-wide sculpture made of salvaged boardwalk planks from the Sandy-battered Rockaways, Long Beach, Sea Girt, and Atlantic City currently sits at Beach 95th Street and Rockaway Beach, where the Design Trust for Public Space will host a beachside Public Space Potluck on May 18 from 1 to 4 p.m. The summer potluck series initiates conversations about public spaces simply by gathering there. (Food helps.) Past potlucks have been held at Governors Island and under the BQE in Fort Greene. In this edition, the altered landscape of the Rockaways and Heartwalk—which invites viewers to take shelter in its concentric cardioids—set the theme. Attendees are encouraged to bring a dish and speak informally on the role of design and public space in disaster recovery. Heartwalk will soon after leave for Atlantic City. NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks and MoMA PS1 (whose geodesic-dome outpost is nearby) co-host the event, which is free and open to the public. Design Trust will provide cups, plates, napkins, and beach blankets.

An Upstart Festival
WantedDesign—relatively young in its third year—takes an international and ecumenical perspective on contemporary design. Nearly 80 exhibitors will set up at the Tunnel (269 Eleventh Ave., nr. 28th St.), where programs range from conversations about emerging design in Istanbul and El Salvador to architecture-and-design short film screenings and exhibitions of lighting and chairs—and much more. This year’s festival will feature Launch Pad, where 28 international design studios and independent designers exhibit prototypes still in need of a manufacturer or distributor. It’s an in-person glimpse of what is to come before it’s for sale—a familiar thrill for anyone who has watched a successful Kickstarter campaign unfold. WantedDesign will also host Module R, a pop-up version of an Atlantic Avenue store that (fittingly) stocks modular, reconfigurable, and customizable modern design objects. Find a full list of programs here. The festival runs from May 18 to 20, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and is open to the public. Order passes here.

Design Outside Commerce
ReclaimNYC began as a one-time auction to fund Hurricane Sandy relief. The design community’s resulting enthusiasm encouraged planners Jean Lin and Jennifer Krichels—architecture-and-design writers and editors by day—to hold another event. This time, instead of asking designers for creations using materials salvaged from storm debris, Lin and Krichels asked designers to collaborate with people outside their firms or disciplines. The result is Reclaim x2, which takes place May 16 to 18. Twenty-five design teams (one includes two designers, a bioengineer, and a musician) will fill a 5,000-square-foot Soho gallery space (446 Broadway, nr. Grand St.) with the products of their collaborations, all up for sale, and proceeds going to Brooklyn Recovery Fund. In addition to the sale, the founders have plans to grow ReclaimNYC into an organization for “designers doing good for an array of social and environmental causes.” Reclaim x2 is free and open to the public, but Thursday’s opening-night event requires an RSVP.

Related:

• Archive: “Design Hunting”
• Articles by Max Thorn