As the global design and architecture community enters a vibrant new season, institutions worldwide are rolling out ambitious programming that bridges historical exploration, environmental innovation, and urban futures. From retrospective examinations of Cold War design behind the Iron Curtain to massive infrastructure showcases and premier international trade fairs, RECORD’s monthly roundup highlights the most compelling upcoming and ongoing exhibitions, major events, and competitive opportunities for professionals and enthusiasts alike.
Exhibitions: Exploring Radical Pasts and Sustainable Futures
At the Museum of Decorative Arts in Berlin, a major collaborative exhibition is currently drawing attention to the vast, often overlooked body of work produced by architects and designers in the former Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. Titled Retrotopia: Design for Socialist Spaces, the showcase explores both realized and conceptual spaces imagined by creators from behind the Iron Curtain. By bringing to light work from figures who remained largely unknown in the Western world—such as Czech architect Věra Machoninová, Estonian designers Sirje Runge and Bruno Tomberg, and German architect Lutz Brandt—the exhibition offers a nuanced look at a distinct era of spatial production.
Meanwhile, in Weil am Rhein, Germany, the Vitra Design Museum is presenting Garden Futures: Designing with Nature, an exhibition designed by the Milan-based studio Formafantasma. Running from March 25 through October 3, 2023, the showcase investigates the history and future of the modern garden, arguing for horticulture as a potentially radical means of experimentation and incubation. With a broad scope of inquiry that encompasses contemporary community gardens, green facades, and vertical urban farms, the exhibition features foundational work by renowned landscape architects Roberto Burle Marx and Mien Ruys, alongside contributions from artist Derek Jarman.
Ongoing Exhibitions
In Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Harvard Graduate School of Design is hosting an exhibition at the Druker Design Gallery that explores large-scale urban transformation. Following its award of the 14th Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design in January to the Grand Paris Express—currently the largest transit infrastructure project in Europe—the school is showcasing project models, renderings, documentary footage, and media through March 31, 2023. Slated for completion in 2030, the ambitious infrastructure plan will add four new metro lines, 125 miles of new tracks, and 68 new stations to the Paris public transit system, effectively connecting underserved peripheral neighborhoods to the bustling city center.
European architecture during two turbulent decades of the late 20th century is the focus of an ongoing exhibition in Tallinn, Estonia. Curated by architectural scholars Andres Kurg and Mari Laanemets of the Estonian Academy of the Arts, Forecast and Fantasy: Architecture Without Borders, 1960s–1980s is on display at the Estonian Museum of Architecture through April 30, 2023. The exhibition centers on utopian designs from the era’s "paper architects," who responded to the emerging technological realities of the period by rejecting the Modernist utopias of scientific planning and social engineering. Instead, they imagined a new harmony among humans, machines, nature, and the built environment, showcasing works by more than 30 architects and groups, including Yuri Avvakumov, István B. Gellér, Jozef Jankovič, Archizoom, OHO, and Superstudio.
In Berlin, the Museum of Architectural Drawing—in collaboration with the Fondazione Aldo Rossi in Milan—is presenting Aldo Rossi. Insulae through May 14, 2023. The exhibition displays over 110 works by the late Italian architect, many of which are being shown publicly for the first time. Divided into three distinct sections titled Corpus Mediolanensis, Works for Berlin, and Insula, the exhibition draws its title from the latter series, which features a collection of drawings by Rossi inspired by architectural models from antiquity. Among the featured pieces are notable 1987 drawings such as Sunrise on the Giudecca with the Mondo Theatre 81, Venetian frame and The large construction site of Fukuoka.
Events
The global events calendar features the return of several premier gatherings after years of pandemic-related disruptions. The Salone del Mobile, recognized as the world’s largest furniture fair, returns to Milan for its 61st year from April 18 to 23, 2023. Following three years of COVID-related cancellations and delays, the fair is back in its traditional April slot, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world to view the latest in international furnishings and lighting design. This year’s programming includes a special curated exhibition by architect Mario Cucinella.
In Spain, the Logroño architecture and design festival, Concéntrico 09, is preparing for its ninth iteration from April 27 to May 2, 2023. The six-day festival features a diverse roster of events, installations, and exhibitions distributed throughout the city, highlighting design proposals and concepts that celebrate the public realm and civic life.
Looking toward the summer, NeoCon will return to Chicago from June 12 to 14, 2023. Established in the city in 1969, the annual fair gathers industry professionals to experience the latest innovations in commercial interior design. This year’s edition will span nearly one million square feet of exhibition space, displaying over 400 products from both leading industry companies and emerging designers.
Competitions
For practitioners and researchers seeking competitive platforms, several notable deadlines are approaching. The Holcim Awards 2023, hosted by the Holcim Foundation, has set its submission deadline for March 30, 2023. This global competition recognizes projects that successfully combine sustainable design and construction with design excellence. Entries are evaluated against the Foundation’s rigorous goals for sustainable construction, with Gold, Silver, and Bronze prizes awarded across five geographic regions: Europe, North America, Latin America, Middle East Africa, and Asia Pacific. Regional winners receive cash prizes and invitations to the official prize announcement at the 2023 Venice Biennale of Architecture.
Additionally, the AIA National Photography Competition, organized by AIA-St. Louis, is currently accepting entries through April 3, 2023. Open to licensed architects and currently enrolled architecture students, the annual competition honors excellence in photographic interpretations of the built environment. Winning entries are slated for publication in RECORD and exhibition at the 2023 AIA conference in April.
Finally, Architecture at Zero 2023, presented in part by AIA California, has established a submission deadline of June 15, 2023. The competition invites design proposals for an agricultural center in Allensworth, California—the first town in the state to be founded, financed, and governed by African Americans. Emphasizing core principles of decarbonization, equity, and resilience, the competition brief calls on students and professionals to submit designs that advance the site’s aspirations of becoming a destination for sustainable agriculture and Black history.
