ding this piece What would buildings look like if their creators didn’t have to worry about annoying things like planning, budgets, climate and clients? Oliver Wainwright enters a world of Blade Runner cathedrals and waffle caves
atelier EURA Scrapbook‘s insight:In reading this pieces, focused mainly in describing the journey through exhibit one (Pezo von Ellrichshausen ’s contribution to the exhibition) one may fall in the trap of believing that this is not an important exhibition.
Very often, critics describe spaces without visiting them , or so I heard, ( this time, the level of detail would indicate otherwise) and in doing so, they make their minds up on two dimensional images that are essentially the subjective point of view of a photographer whose experience of the building is particular to themselves . As readers, we can also fall on the same trap and see the world though the eyes of someone else rather than our own.
I am glad to have visited this exhibition because for the first time in the UK (and as an architect I have visited a lot of exhibitions in the past 15 years) i saw an exhibition that did not require for the expectator to construct the experience in their head, but to be part of it.
In the UK, you do not need to be an architect to build buildings. All those years at school are taken for granted and the level of dissatisfaction of architects increases as they come to terms with this fact. It is fair to say that most people do not see the value that we bring to the table, however, I do believe that we have to take some responsibility .
We tend to think that people should speak our language, trust us and join our side of the table without realising that we should be moving across the table to sit side by side with those that employ us, as collaborators, use clear words and share the journey with them.
This piece at the Guardian misses this point.
This exhibition is important because it allows people to experience the impossible spaces that are in fact possible rather than having to imagine them.
It is important because it highlights the elements we take for granted but which make the spaces (thresholds , golden decorations, light).
It is important because it allows visitors to take part in the shaping of the environments , not accept them (Diébédo Francis Kéré ).
And it is important because it shows the visitor how architectural decisions can make you see places you thought you knew (the Royal academy ) in a completely different light, without the use of words.
I don’t think this is an exhibition for architects, necessarily, although architects can definitely learn from it.
See on www.theguardian.com
