ARCHITECTURE: Architecture as Art
The exhibition “Architecture as Art”, is devoted to the relationship between Art and Architecture and aims to create a very special form of “encroachment”, as far as architecture exhibitions are concerned with an exhibition space arranged in such a way as to convey an understanding of architecture as an artistic event.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Pirelli HangarBicocca Archive
On the occasion of the XXI Triennale di Milano International Exposition, Pirelli HangarBicocca houses the exhibition “Architecture as Art”. The exhibition presents 15 samples of architecture, arranged in a sort of atlas that is intended to illustrate the themes and subjects that represent the new responsibilities of the architecture of the 21st Century. The idea is to create a spatial device that will help visitors see architecture through different eyes, relying on the persuasive effect offered by a museum display that is not dedicated to architecture. Without compensating for the lack of “real architecture” with surrogates such as drawings, texts, photos, models, and so on, here the architecture is shown “live”. The aim is to help people discover its unique artistic qualities, and visitors are invited to go beyond their usual, purely practical experience of architecture. The display area is the “Shed” building of Pirelli HangarBicocca, where 15 works specially created for the exhibition are arranged to form a sort of atlas, illustrating the themes and subjects involved in the new responsibilities of architecture in the twenty-first century. Michel Desvigne, Catherine Mosbach, Studio Mumbai, Rural Urban Framework, El Equipo de Mazzanti, Amateur Architecture Studio, Atelier Bow-Wow, Rural Studio, Josep Llinás Carmona, João Luís Carrilho da Graça, Maria Giuseppina Grasso Cannizzo, Lacaton & Vassal, Studio Albori and nArchitects have been asked to find the architectural equivalent of entries in a possible dictionary, such as Portico, Entrance, Rehabilitation, Roof, Shelter, Pavilion, etc. These figures should be seen as picks that can be used to unlock the expression of architectural ideas with regard to new paradigms, such as the new idea of active and participatory public space, the new ecological model or the merger of architecture with the discipline of landscape design.
Info: Curator: Nina Bassoli, Pirelli HangarBicocca, Via Chiese 2, Milan, Duration: 2/4-12/9/16 (Closed from 8-24/8/16), Days & Hours: Thu-Sun 10:00-22:00, www.hangarbicocca.org
