FUTUREFORMS is an award-winning art and design studio based in San Francisco since 2009. Founders Jason Kelly Johnson and Nataly Gattegno, both Professors at California College of the Arts, have collaborated on a range of projects exploring the intersections of art and design with public space for over 20 years. Recent public art projects have included sculptural shade canopies, art pavilions, fine art objects, furniture and lighting, as well as large scale urban art installations and art master plan consulting.
The firm’s commitment to public art stems from an interest in activating the urban realm by giving the public a way to engage, creating places for exchange, places for pause, or simply a point of connection. The artwork is experiential, playful, integrated and engaged with its context, but also strives to present itself as an identifiable element in the built landscape. To do this FUTUREFORMS relies on rich, diverse and multifaceted concepts that can resonate with diverse audiences, different ages and uses: the passer-by, the tourist or the neighbor, the adult or the toddler. The work ranges in scale: sometimes free-standing and other times integrated into existing frameworks. Some of the projects require a collaborative approach with engineers, architects and landscape architects and an awareness of the agencies and stakeholders involved. Always intricately made, with a high degree of craft, the work varies in terms of effects, relying on geometry, light and shadow to create memorable and impactful art.
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