OAS × vowels: Research Library Takeover Launch Mixer
Come spend the night to celebrate the launch of the Office of Applied Strategy's newest research publication, OAS Dossier 2: The New Pantheon, and collaboration with the Japanese designer brand vowels to takeover their research library for the week.
This launch mixer is open to the public: please feel free to share the event with friends and to bring guests to the party. Beverages will be provided by Myce, a new wellness beverage with a plant-based natural mood boosting effect.
DJ set by Ade Kassim.
Research Library Takeover
The Office of Applied Strategy is proud to announce a Research Library takeover collaboration with the Japanese designer brand vowels. Alongside the brand’s seasonal collection, the vowels Research Library at 76 Bowery houses over 2,000 pieces of rare printed matter–spanning books, magazines, and archival materials–sourced over the years as both an internal source of inspiration for the team, and an external resource for the community.
From November 14–19, the Office of Applied Strategy will take over the library for the launch of OAS Dossier 2: The New Pantheon, our annual research publication charting the future through the lens of cultural criticism and forecasting. We will also have copies of all the books we cite in the dossier as an immersive, physical bibliography. During these five days, guests are welcome to visit the store during normal hours to read the new dossier, scan materials to upload onto a custom vowels-branded USB stick, and pick up a print copy of the dossier while supplies last.
This collaboration represents a convergence of values. At OAS, we believe in the power of anti-disciplinary thinking—blending different styles of strategy from management consulting to design thinking to cultural insights into a hybrid form. At vowels, the brand follows the Japanese philosophy of Shu Ha Ri (守破離), wherein one must master the fundamentals of a creative practice before breaking those rules and reconceiving the form. We hold a shared belief in the power of breaking the rules by honoring the collective legacy of knowledge that came before us.
About OAS Dossier 2
OAS Dossier 2: The New Pantheon is the second edition of OAS's physical-only, annual research publication, again limited to 1,000 copies. It investigates the emergence of a social phenomena we call horseshoe maximalism, and explains how political polarization today has given way to new cultural trends that embrace contradiction and extremities.
The research builds on our inaugural OAS Dossier 1, which examined how optimization replaced progress in systems of cultural production. This year's text goes further, asking: when establishment narratives fail, and traditional mechanisms for reform and change feel impotent, what stories do we tell ourselves about where we're going and how do we coordinate consensus around these new mythologies?
vowels Research Library
Photo Credits: Hypebeast & Dezeen