“What we started to realize was the implied world we see around us. So physically, you could look at everything around us and see behind it—all the code that constructs it. And to change the world that we need to change, you have to recode all that code. Whether it’s ownership, materiality, standards, or how we own materials, all these are codes. Let’s reimagine.”

Indy Johar was born in Acton, West London, and has lived there his whole life. He is an RIBA-registered architect, serial social entrepreneur, and Good Growth Advisor to the Mayor of London. He works with the strategic design of new super-scale civic assets for transition, specifically at the intersection of financing, contracting, and governance for deeply democratic futures.

“Democracy in the 21st century is not just the vote. It’s about our capacity to bring society together, and that requires new forms of organizing, which I think are now available to us.”

Indy is a co-founder of Dark Matter Labs and of the RIBA award-winning architecture and urban practice Architecture00. He is also a founding director of Open Systems Lab, which seeded WikiHouse (open-source housing) and Open Desk (an open-source furniture company). Indy is a non-executive International Director of the BloxHub in Copenhagen, the Nordic Hub for sustainable urbanization. He is on the advisory board for the Future Observatory and is part of the London Festival of Architecture committee. He is also a fellow of the London Interdisciplinary School.

Indy was 2016-17 Graham Willis Visiting Professorship at Sheffield University. He was a Studio Master at the Architectural Association in 2019-2020, a UNDP Innovation Facility Advisory Board Member from 2016-20, and an RIBA Trustee from 2017-20. He has taught & lectured at various institutions, including the University of Bath, TU-Berlin; University College London, Princeton, Harvard, MI, and New School. Indy is a Professor at RMIT University. He was awarded the London Design Medal for Innovation in 2022 and an MBE for Services to Architecture in 2023.

Indy Johar was interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner in April 2024. The recording occurred in connection with the conference FABRICATE 2024, hosted at CITA, Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen.

Camera: Jarl Therkelsen Kaldan

Edited by: Jarl Therkelsen Kaldan

Produced by: Marc-Christoph Wagner

Copyright: Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2024

Louisiana Channel is supported by Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond, Ny Carlsbergfondet, and C.L. Davids Fond og Samling. This film is supported by Dreyersfond and Fritz Hansen.