As the architectural world enters the bustling spring and summer seasons of 2023, a diverse and intellectually stimulating array of exhibitions, major international festivals, and high-stakes competitions is drawing the attention of designers, engineers, and urban theorists worldwide. From monumental retrospectives celebrating twentieth-century masters to forward-thinking explorations of climate resilience, digital fabrication, and social equity, this month’s curated selection from RECORD highlights the vital dialogues shaping the built environment today.
Upcoming Exhibitions
More with Less: Reimagining Architecture for a Changing World
Newcastle, England — April 22 – September 10, 2023
In Newcastle, England, a former nineteenth-century department store has been given a new lease on life as the Farrell Centre—a public exhibition space and research hub dedicated entirely to architecture and urbanism, led by renowned British architect Sir Terry Farrell. For its inaugural exhibition, the center has commissioned four distinct architectural practices: Dress for the Weather, McCloy + Muchemwa, Office S&M, and the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment. These groups have been tasked with developing site-specific installations that propose radical new design responses to the escalating climate emergency, pushing the boundaries of sustainable material use and ecological integration.
Norman Foster
Paris — May 10 – August 7, 2023
Meanwhile, in Paris, the Centre Pompidou is hosting the largest retrospective ever mounted to date on the prolific, six-decade career of Pritzker Prize laureate Lord Norman Foster. Spanning an expansive 23,000 square feet, the landmark exhibition brings together original drawings, comprehensive workbooks, and physical prototypes representing nearly 100 projects from across Foster’s legendary portfolio. Visitors can trace the evolution of global modernism through iconic works such as the Carrée d’Art in Nîmes, France (1993), the monumental Hong Kong International Airport (1998), and the hyper-modern Apple Park in Cupertino, California (2017).
Ongoing Exhibitions
Technoscape: The Architecture of Engineers
Rome — Through April 16, 2023
At the Museo Nazionale MAXXI in Rome, Technoscape: The Architecture of Engineers offers a profound look into the complex relationship between structural engineering—spanning both vernacular traditions and avant-garde innovations—and the pervasive integration of technology into modern living and working environments. Developed in partnership with various universities and research centers, the exhibition is divided into two compelling sections. The first features interactive pavilions and installations illustrating how scientific and technological sectors intersect with architecture today, ranging from "smart" city management apparatuses to the revival of low-tech, vintage assembly techniques. The second section traces the trajectory of structural engineering from the post-World War II era to the present day, celebrating monumental feats such as the Centre Pompidou (Beaubourg) and the Sydney Opera House.
Andrea Branzi: Contemporary DNA
New York — Spring 2023
In New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood, Italian architect Andrea Branzi—who cofounded the influential radical design studio Archizoom during the 1960s—is mounting his third solo exhibition with the Friedman Benda Gallery. The showcase presents three interconnected bodies of work titled Roots, Germinal Seats, and Buildings. Across these collections, Branzi emphasizes the integration of natural and repurposed materials into everyday household objects, including chairs, cabinets, and lamps, continuing his lifelong critique and reimagining of domestic space.
Aldo Rossi. Insulae
Berlin — Spring 2023
At the Museum of Architectural Drawing in Berlin, an intimate yet expansive exhibition titled Aldo Rossi. Insulae displays over 110 works by the late Italian master, many of which are being shared with the public for the very first time. The exhibition is thoughtfully organized into three distinct thematic sections: Corpus Mediolanensis, Works for Berlin, and Insula. It is this final series, from which the exhibition takes its overarching title, that highlights a fascinating collection of drawings by Rossi inspired directly by architectural models and typologies from classical antiquity.
Himali Singh Soin: Static Range
Chicago — Through May 15, 2023
In Chicago, the Art Institute of Chicago is hosting the first U.S. solo exhibition for artist Himali Singh Soin. Titled Static Range, the multimedia presentation offers an immersive, poetic imagining of the historical and prospective futures of "nuclear" landscapes. Encompassing original poetry, music, video installations, textiles, ceramics, drawings, and an interactive therapeutic garden, the exhibition space was designed by the artist in close collaboration with the local Chicago-based architecture office Future Firm.
François Dallegret: Beyond the Bubble
New Haven, Connecticut — Through May 22, 2023
At the Yale Architecture Gallery, François Dallegret: Beyond the Bubble celebrates the enduring legacy of the Montreal-based architect who emerged as a central figure of the 1960s and 1970s architectural avant-garde, renowned for his meticulous and witty designs for futuristic objects and spaces. Expanding upon the foundational 2011 exhibition GOD & CO: Beyond the Bubble, the current presentation gathers rare drawings, physical objects, films, and archival ephemera drawn from six decades of Dallegret’s creative practice.
Parall(elles): A History of Women in Design
Montreal — Through May 28, 2023
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is currently home to Parall(elles): A History of Women in Design, a large-scale, comprehensive exhibition that brings together nearly 250 works created by American and Canadian women designers from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. Organized in collaboration with the Stewart Program for Modern Design, the works are contextualized within the broader social, cultural, and political movements that have shaped women’s careers in the design professions over the last 150 years. The exhibition showcases a sweeping array of disciplines, ranging from traditional artisanal craft to industrial design, including ceramics, glass, metalwork, jewelry, textiles, furniture, consumer products, graphics, fashion, and interior environments.
Retrotopia: Design for Socialist Spaces
Berlin — Through July 16, 2023
Berlin’s Museum of Decorative Arts is currently exploring a vast, largely overlooked body of architectural and design production from the former Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. Retrotopia: Design for Socialist Spaces displays both realized projects and conceptual visions imagined by architects and designers operating behind the Iron Curtain. By doing so, the exhibition brings well-deserved attention to figures who remain relatively unknown in the Western world, such as Czech architect Věra Machoninová, Estonian designers Sirje Runge and Bruno Tomberg, and German architect Lutz Brandt.
Vanishing Points: Architectural Imagination in the Digital Universe
London — Through July 29, 2023
At the Roca London Gallery, architect Hamza Shaikh has curated an ambitious exhibition that places contemporary digital architectural imaginings into a direct dialogue with historical precedents sourced from the Drawing Matter archive. By displaying rare works by masters such as Mies vander Rohe, John Hejduk, and Le Corbusier side-by-side with cutting-edge products of virtual and computational design technologies, Vanishing Points demonstrates how contemporary digital architecture builds upon, expands, and reinterprets the profession’s rich historical drawing tradition.
Garden Futures: Designing with Nature
Weil am Rhein, Germany — Through October 3, 2023
The Vitra Design Museum in Germany is presenting Garden Futures: Designing with Nature, an exhibition designed by the Milan-based studio Formafantasma that critically examines the history and prospective future of the modern garden. The exhibition posits horticulture as a radical site for architectural and social experimentation. Encompassing a broad scope that ranges from contemporary urban community gardens and green building facades to vertical urban farms, the display features historical and contemporary contributions by landscape architects Roberto Burle Marx and Mien Ruys, as well as artist Derek Jarman.
Events
Concéntrico 09
Logroño, Spain — April 27 – May 2, 2023
In Spain, the city of Logroño is welcoming back the Concéntrico international architecture and design festival for its ninth consecutive edition. Over the course of six days, the city becomes an active canvas filled with temporary installations, exhibitions, and public events that celebrate and interrogate the civic potential of the urban public realm.
NYCxDesign
New York City — May 18–25, 2023
New York City’s premier annual design celebration, NYCxDesign, returns for its eleventh year, drawing upwards of 300,000 visitors to the five boroughs. The festival features a diverse, citywide roster of public talks, curated exhibitions, site-specific installations, and guided architectural walking tours that highlight the city’s vibrant design community.
Venice Architecture Biennale 2023
Venice, Italy — May 20 – November 26, 2023
One of the most anticipated events on the global cultural calendar, the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia is curated this year by Scottish-Ghanaian architect Lesley Lokko, founder of the Graduate School of Architecture in Johannesburg and the African Futures Institute in Accra, Ghana. Centered around the overarching theme "Laboratory of the Future," the citywide exhibition features contributions by 89 official participants, with over half hailing from Africa or the African diaspora, signaling a profound shift toward underrepresented global perspectives in spatial practice.
BQE 2053: Towards a Decarbonized Sustainable Multi-Modal Transportation Network
New York City — May 20, 2023
Capitalizing on newly available federal funding streams for vital infrastructure repair, the Institute for Public Architecture is convening a free, one-day symposium in New York to address the future of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE), a critical corridor that has suffered from decades of deferred maintenance. Held at the Harbor School on Governors Island, the event brings together policymakers, urban experts, and community members from Brooklyn and Queens across four panel discussions focusing on highway removal, alternative multi-modal transportation systems, community land trusts, and visionary grassroots models for urban renewal.
NeoCon
Chicago — June 12–14, 2023
Chicago’s historic commercial interior design exposition, NeoCon, returns to the Merchandise Mart for its annual industry gathering, which has taken place in the city since 1969. Spanning nearly one million square feet of exhibition space, the fair will showcase the latest product innovations from more than 400 leading manufacturers and emerging designers alike.
Competitions
Architecture at Zero 2023
Submission Deadline: June 15, 2023
Presented in part by AIA California, the Architecture at Zero 2023 competition is officially underway, inviting innovative design proposals for a new agricultural center in Allensworth—the historic first town in California to be entirely founded, financed, and governed by African-Americans. The competition brief challenges both students and seasoned professionals to prioritize deep decarbonization, social equity, and climate resilience. Entrants are asked to craft visions that honor and advance the community’s enduring aspirations to become a thriving destination for sustainable agriculture and a living monument to Black history.
