The Pop Up Activist.

The holiday season here in NY and that means pop-up shops have run amok. Don't get me wrong, I love a sugary smelling candle and hand-knitted scarf at discounted prices  just as much as the next woman. But is it possible to tie this example of mass consumerism to a cause in an innovative way?

Looks like we can. 

A few weeks ago, New Yorker Eric Ho, an architect who once intended to design housing for disaster zones, counted the empty properties on the Lower East Side and considered what could be done with them. A preliminary answer: a series of seven pop-ups in seven weeks in a storefront on Delancey Street. 

Instead of the usual pop-up store from retailers looking for buzz, Mr. Ho’s pop-ups will house organizations that might not be able to afford permanent retail space in the neighborhood — a mix of nonprofits and for-profits, none with big budgets. Tenants will range from a syringe-exchange program for homeless transients to an online community of knitters.

The  seven-week project is also a showcase for his prototype “storefront transformer”: a six-foot wooden cube on wheels that contains the components for tables, seats, a screen, display cases, a stage, lighting, Wi-Fi and a P.A. system — an instant pop-up in a rolling box.

I love this idea! Here;s the thing: It needs to be funded. Ho is living on his savings. Money to rent the storefront and build the transformer — $33,991 in total — was raised through Kickstarter, with the biggest contributors paying $1,000 or $1,500 in exchange for small promotional displays. I think this idea deserved my support and yours too. 

Find out more here.