Photography by Carmen Troesser
Jasmin Aber
The midtown space is divided by a series of improvised partitions, drywall fastened to simple wooden frames on wheels. The two sides evoke the nonprofit’s two names: Creative Exchange Lab and the Center for Architecture and Design St. Louis (3307 Washington). The latter is embodied on the eastern wall, a white gallery space for exhibitions, where “the mission is to cultivate the general public to develop a better understanding about the profession of design,” says director Jasmin Aber. Currently on view is a series of architectural models for a proposed Art Walk that would connect the cultural institutions of Grand Center.
On the other side is the lab, where work happens. This space is raw, with a mosaic of textures and colors on the western wall showing the building’s history. “The phantoms of not so long ago,” as Aber puts it. Tables are made of industrial spools turned on their sides, trimmed with recycled fire hose. A planned renovation would add a second floor, with expanded work space. Projects benefit the community while building the portfolios of aspiring or out-of-work professionals. They’re designing a space for the nonprofit Sweet Potato Project and creating a strategic plan for the Lansdowne neighborhood of East St. Louis. As mascots, the organization has two Mary statuettes it inherited from a previous tenant. “Her head is loose, but I make sure it never falls,” Aber says. You might say she’s doing the same for the design industry.
