The international design calendar is entering a dynamic season, highlighted by institutional spotlights on innovative contemporary practices, speculative environmental design, and pressing socio-economic challenges in the built environment. From major museum surveys and regional retrospectives to high-profile industry gatherings and open calls for young talent, curators and organizations around the globe are taking stock of how architecture and design intersect with pressing cultural issues.
Museum Exhibitions and Institutional Showcases
The Museum of Modern Art has announced a new exhibition series designed to showcase the work of emerging architects who are driving innovation in the field. The inaugural exhibition highlights 12 recently completed projects throughout New York, featuring contributions from prominent practices including Adjaye Associates, nArchitects, SO – IL, and Architectural Record’s Design Vanguard 2022 winners CO Adaptive and Only If. Each project in the series is accompanied by a new, specially produced video by Brooklyn-based filmmaker Hudson Lines, offering visitors a cinematic look into contemporary urban design.
In Boston, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston is presenting the first comprehensive survey exhibition of New York-based artist and sculptor Simone Leigh. Running through September 4, 2023, the exhibition spans two decades of production, bringing together sculpture, ceramics, video, and installation. Notably, the show includes works from Leigh’s celebrated 2022 Venice Biennale presentation, marking their first time being shown publicly in the United States.
Meanwhile, at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, an outdoor exhibition titled Architecture at Home is sparking dialogue about the future of contemporary housing. The exhibition features five distinct 500-square-foot housing prototypes developed by architecture firms based across the Americas—studioSUMO, LEVENBETTS, MUTUO, PPAA, and studio:indigenous. While the participating practices hail from diverse backgrounds, each prototype was meticulously crafted with careful consideration of the specific housing needs, unique challenges, and local opportunities defining the Northwest Arkansas community.
In New York, the New Museum is currently hosting Theaster Gates: Young Lords and Their Traces, the first major survey exhibition dedicated to the interdisciplinary practice of Chicago-based artist and designer Theaster Gates. Curated by the museum’s artistic director, Massimiliano Gioni, alongside Gary Carrion-Murayari, the exhibition brings together works by the designer of the 2022 Serpentine Pavilion. The showcase features sculptures constructed from salvaged materials, tar paintings, clay vessels, collaborative performances, preserved historical photographs and objects, and immersive architectural installations. Together, the collection pays homage to the radical thinkers, historic figures, and everyday icons who have shaped Gates’s home city of Chicago and the broader American landscape.
Over in Chicago, the Rhona Hoffman Gallery is presenting James Wines: Nature’s Revenge, an exhibition dedicated to the visionary work of James Wines, founder and president of the New York-based studio SITE (Sculpture in the Environment). Having designed and built over 150 architecture and environmental art projects across the globe with a core focus on green design and environmental commentary, Wines is celebrated for pushing the boundaries of ecological architecture. The gallery exhibition features a selection of drawings and works pointing toward a speculative green architecture, including pen-and-ink drawings from the artist’s 30-year retrospective in Berlin alongside more recent creations.
Back in New York, the Center for Architecture is hosting New Practices New York, an exhibition showcasing the work selected from AIA New York’s 2020 competition of the same name. The exhibition highlights six innovative local practices—BRANDT: HAFERD, Bryony Roberts Studio, City-group, GRT Architects, New Affiliates, and ANY—all of which have demonstrated a profound engagement with New York City and its residents through experimental and community-oriented design.
In Atlanta, the Museum of Design Atlanta is presenting Close to the Edge: The Birth of Hip-Hop Architecture. Curated and designed by architect Sekou Cooke—whose work was also featured in MoMA’s 2021 exhibition Reconstructions: Architecture and Blackness in America—the exhibition explores the burgeoning design movement driven by practitioners who utilize hip-hop culture as a conceptual framework for the built environment. Featuring work drawn from a canon that has emerged over the past 25 years, the display ranges from experimental installations to visionary building designs and urban-development proposals, presenting a collective vision for alternative forms of architectural expression.
Washington, D.C., is also engaging with critical housing issues through an exhibition at the National Building Museum. A Better Way Home: The Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge highlights the stories and approaches behind the six winning proposals of the museum’s nationwide grant competition, which was initiated in 2019. Prompted by the ongoing housing affordability crisis in the United States, the $20 million competition challenged participants to break down systemic barriers ensuring safe, affordable homes. The exhibition showcases two proposed solutions in each of three core categories: resident services and support, financing, and construction.
In Stockholm, ArkDes, Sweden’s national center for architecture and design, is presenting a major retrospective celebrating the work and global impact of Bolle Tham and Martin Videgård. Since founding their Stockholm-based office in 1999, Tham & Videgård has shaped the modern image of Swedish architecture through acclaimed projects such as the Kalmar Konstmuseum, the Treehotel in Harads, and the KTH School of Architecture in Stockholm, alongside international ventures like the Denfert art center in Paris.
Events and Gatherings
Beyond gallery and museum walls, the design community is preparing for several major annual gatherings. In Palm Springs, California, Modernism Week 2023 will deliver a robust program featuring more than 350 events across the region, including signature home and garden tours, curated film screenings, and expert-led lectures. This year’s keynote presentation will be delivered by Thom Mayne, principal of the influential architecture firm Morphosis.
In Florida, the city of Orlando will host Coverings, recognized as the largest international tile and stone exhibition in the United States. The upcoming conference is expected to draw 800 exhibitors representing over 30 countries, offering industry professionals an extensive look at the latest developments in tile and stone materials alongside a comprehensive schedule of educational learning sessions and networking events.
Competitions and Calls for Entry
Organizations are also inviting emerging creative minds to tackle pressing contemporary paradigms through design competitions. The Architectural League has officially launched its 2023 Architectural League Prize for Young Architects and Designers under the thematic title Uncomfortable. Operating against the complex backdrops of accelerating climate change, evolving labor practices, and the challenging of traditional institutional hegemonies, the annual competition seeks proposals that directly respond to this state of systemic discomfort through critical reflection and collective imagination.
Entrants must not be current students and must have earned their bachelor’s or master’s degree within the past 10 years. The competition accepts submissions in any medium, encompassing both purely conceptual studies and fully realized built works. Winners of the prestigious competition will each be awarded a cash prize of $2,000, continuing a long-standing tradition of highlighting cutting-edge talent at the vanguard of the architectural profession.
