A Modular Public Realm Prototype MOVING between furniture, sculpture, tactical urbanism, and civic activation infrastructure.
Built as a flexible kit-of-parts, the system enables cities, developers, arts organizations, and community stakeholders to rapidly transform underutilized space into environments that support gathering, culture, recreation, and everyday social life. Modular. Reversible. Human-scale. Programmable.
PRECEDENT
We are a local team of artists, designers, architects, & builders working at the intersection of cultural infrastructure and civic design. Since 2019, EXIT has developed and operated a proven model for activating underutilized urban space— producing hundreds of events, exhibitions, and performances that drive engagement, support local creative economies, and strengthen the city’s cultural identity.
In 2022, this work expanded into tactical urbanism and public realm prototyping through the transformation of Franklin Street in Allston into an active civic and cultural corridor. What began as independent cultural programming evolved into the development of modular infrastructure systems designed to support gathering, participation, and everyday public use.
in 2026 The Sideway Sculpture System emerges from this ongoing experimentation: a flexible framework for treating public space as cultural infrastructure.
Integrating modular seating architecture, adaptable activation elements, and ongoing programming into a unified placemaking system, the project explores how lightweight spatial interventions can transform underutilized streets, plazas, and storefront edges into socially magnetic public environments.
Together, these elements operate as a continuous platform for interaction, recreation, performance, and civic presence — increasing foot traffic, extending dwell time, supporting surrounding businesses, and strengthening the cultural identity of place.
Public space, treated not simply as circulation infrastructure, but as a living medium for participation and collective experience.
TEAM
INITIAL RENDERS
STREET CONDITION
A bold, loosely figurative street composition composed of interconnecting forms depicting bodies in motion — engaged in connection, play, gathering, and urban exploration. Embedded within the composition are subtle typographic references to Lower Allston (“LA” and “Allston”), woven between and inside the figures to create a layered visual language that rewards both immediate recognition and closer inspection.
Rather than functioning as a standalone mural, the intervention transforms the street surface into a continuous spatial field — extending the logic of the Sideways Social Sculpture beyond the object itself and into the broader public realm. The street becomes an active social canvas: a connective layer between park, sidewalk, architecture, and cultural programming.
As a whole, the composition reads as a continuous field of movement and encounter — reflecting the energy, creativity, and interconnectedness of the neighborhood while reinforcing the corridor as a shared civic environment.
Design Language
Single-color application for clarity and cohesion
Asphalt used as negative space
Bold, graphic, legible forms
Designed for visibility from multiple approaches and scales
Intended for durable chalk or traffic-grade paint application (open blue or sunflower yellow palette)
Flexible enough to support events, gathering, performance, and everyday pedestrian use
Goals
Establish a strong visual identity for the corridor
Reinforce pedestrian presence and spatial awareness
Create a cohesive “field condition” connecting park + street + studio
Extend the Sideways Social Sculpture into a complete placemaking framework
Transform underutilized roadway space into recognizable cultural infrastructure
Compliance + Practicality
Visually distinct from white vehicular traffic markings
Designed for legibility at vehicular speeds
Durable and maintainable surface treatment
Compatible with temporary or seasonal public realm activation strategies