As the architectural world navigates an era defined by urgent ecological challenges, technological transformations, and a reevaluation of historical narratives, a robust international roster of upcoming and ongoing exhibitions, festivals, and competitions offers a comprehensive look at the profession’s current trajectory. From major retrospectives of legendary figures to forward-thinking explorations of sustainable urbanism, RECORD’s monthly curation highlights the essential events shaping architecture and design across the globe.
Upcoming Exhibitions
The spring season brings several highly anticipated exhibitions exploring climate response and the monumental careers of modern masters.
In Newcastle, England, the Farrell Centre—a newly established public exhibition space and research hub dedicated to architecture and urbanism—housed within a former 19th-century department store and led by British architect Sir Terry Farrell, has launched its inaugural exhibition. Titled More with Less: Reimagining Architecture for a Changing World, the exhibition runs from April 22 through September 10, 2023. For this opening show, the center commissioned four distinct architectural practices: Dress for the Weather, McCloy + Muchemwa, Office S&M, and the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment. Each practice was tasked with creating installations that propose innovative design responses to the ongoing climate emergency.
Meanwhile, in Paris, the Centre Pompidou is presenting the largest retrospective to date dedicated to the prolific career of Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate Norman Foster. Spanning an expansive 23,000 square feet, the exhibition runs from May 10 to August 7, 2023, and features original drawings, workbooks, and prototypes encompassing nearly 100 projects from the past six decades. Among the celebrated works highlighted in the retrospective are the Carré d’Art in Nîmes, France (1993), the Hong Kong International Airport (1998), and Apple Park in Cupertino, California (2017).
Ongoing Exhibitions
Across Europe and North America, a diverse array of ongoing exhibitions continues to draw crowds, bridging historical analysis with contemporary experimentation.
In Rome, the Museo Nazionale MAXXI is hosting Technoscape: The Architecture of Engineers through April 16, 2023. The exhibition explores the complex relationship between structural engineering—spanning both vernacular and avant-garde traditions—and the pervasive integration of technology into modern living and working spaces. Developed in collaboration with universities and research centers, the exhibition is divided into two main sections. The first features interactive pavilions and installations illustrating the current convergence of scientific and technological sectors with architecture, ranging from smart devices for urban management to the revival of low-tech, vintage assembly techniques. The second section examines the work of structural engineers from the post-war period to the present day, putting iconic architectural achievements such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Sydney Opera House under the spotlight.
In New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood, Italian architect Andrea Branzi—who famously cofounded the radical design studio Archizoom in the 1960s—is presenting his third solo exhibition with the Friedman Benda Gallery. Titled Contemporary DNA, the exhibition showcases three new bodies of work by the architect: Roots, Germinal Seats, and Buildings. The collection emphasizes the use of natural and repurposed materials applied to everyday household objects, including chairs, cabinets, and lamps.
Furthering the exploration of architectural representation, the Museum of Architectural Drawing is currently featuring Aldo Rossi. Insulae. This exhibition displays over 110 works by the late Italian architect, many of which are being shown to the public for the very first time. The presentation is organized into three distinct sections: Corpus Mediolanensis, Works for Berlin, and the titular Insula, a series of drawings by Rossi inspired directly by architectural models from antiquity.
In Chicago, artist Himali Singh Soin is mounting her first solo exhibition in the United States at the Art Institute of Chicago. Titled Static Range and running through May 15, 2023, the multimedia exhibition offers an immersive imagining of the past and future of nuclear landscapes. Designed in close collaboration with the local architecture practice Future Firm, the exhibition incorporates poetry, music, video, textiles, ceramics, drawings, and an integrated therapeutic garden.
In New Haven, Connecticut, the Yale Architecture Gallery is presenting François Dallegret: Beyond the Bubble through May 22, 2023. The exhibition focuses on Montreal-based architect François Dallegret, a central figure in the architectural avant-garde of the 1960s and 1970s renowned for his meticulous designs for futuristic objects and spaces. Building upon the 2011 exhibition GOD & CO: Beyond the Bubble, the current presentation features drawings, objects, films, and ephemera spanning six decades of Dallegret’s career.
In Montreal, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is hosting Parall(elles): A History of Women in Design through May 28, 2023. Organized in collaboration with the Stewart Program for Modern Design, the large-scale exhibition gathers nearly 250 works by American and Canadian women dating from the mid-19th century to the present day. The works are contextualized against the social and political backdrops that have shaped women’s design careers over the past 150 years, encompassing a diverse array of disciplines from artisanal craft to industrial design, including ceramics, glass, metalwork, jewelry, textiles, furniture, consumer products, graphics, fashion, and interior design.
Berlin’s Museum of Decorative Arts is exploring the rich output of former Eastern Bloc designers and architects during the Cold War through its exhibition Retrotopia: Design for Socialist Spaces, running through July 16, 2023. The exhibition showcases both realized and conceptual spaces imagined behind the Iron Curtain, shedding light on figures who remain relatively unknown in the Western world. Among those featured are Czech architect Věra Machoninová, Estonian designers Sirje Runge and Bruno Tomberg, and German architect Lutz Brandt.
In London, the Roca London Gallery is presenting Vanishing Points: Architectural Imagination in the Digital Universe through July 29, 2023. Curated by architect Hamza Shaikh, the exhibition juxtaposes contemporary virtual architectural imaginations with historical precedents drawn from the Drawing Matter archive. By displaying drawings by masters such as Mies van der Rohe, John Hejduk, and Le Corbusier side-by-side with products of cutting-edge virtual technologies, the exhibition demonstrates how digital architecture continues and expands upon the profession’s deep-rooted tradition of drawing.
In Weil am Rhein, Germany, the Vitra Design Museum is presenting Garden Futures: Designing with Nature through October 3, 2023. Designed by the Milan-based studio Formafantasma, the exhibition examines the history and future of the modern garden, arguing that horticulture serves as a potentially radical site for spatial experimentation and incubation. Covering a broad scope that ranges from contemporary community gardens and green facades to vertical urban farms, the exhibition includes works by prominent landscape architects Roberto Burle Marx and Mien Ruys, alongside artist Derek Jarman.
Events
The spring and summer calendar also features a series of prominent festivals, symposia, and biennial gatherings focusing on civic spaces, infrastructure, and commercial interiors.
In Logroño, Spain, the annual architecture and design festival Concéntrico 09 returns for its ninth edition from April 27 to May 2, 2023. The six-day festival animates the city with a wide-ranging roster of events, temporary installations, and exhibitions that feature design concepts celebrating the public realm and civic life.
In New York City, NYCxDesign returns for its 11th year from May 18 to May 25, 2023. The premier design festival draws over 300,000 visitors to the city to participate in a diverse program of talks, exhibitions, site-specific installations, and neighborhood walking tours.
In Venice, Italy, the 18th International Architecture Exhibition—La Biennale di Venezia—opens on May 20 and runs through November 26, 2023. Curated by Scottish-Ghanaian architect Lesley Lokko, who founded the Graduate School of Architecture in Johannesburg in 2015 and the African Futures Institute in Accra in 2020, this year’s Biennale is themed "Laboratory of the Future." The citywide exhibition features contributions from 89 participants, with more than half hailing from Africa or the African diaspora.
Also in New York, taking advantage of newly available federal infrastructure funding, the Institute for Public Architecture is hosting a free, one-day symposium on May 20, 2023. Titled BQE 2053: Towards a Decarbonized Sustainable Multi-Modal Transportation Network, the event will examine reuse opportunities for the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, which has suffered from decades of deferred maintenance. Four expert panels—comprising policy-makers, community members from Brooklyn and Queens, and infrastructure specialists—will convene at the Harbor School on Governors Island to discuss highway removal, alternative transportation systems, community land trusts, and grassroots visions for the corridor’s future.
In Chicago, the commercial interior design industry will gather for NeoCon, held annually at the Merchandise Mart from June 12 to June 14, 2023. Established in 1969, the fair encompasses nearly 1 million square feet of exhibition space, showcasing commercial design innovations from over 400 leading companies and emerging designers alike.
Competitions
Rounding out the current global design landscape, open competitions continue to solicit forward-thinking solutions for historical and sustainable communities.
The Architecture at Zero 2023 competition, presented in part by AIA California, is currently accepting design proposals with a submission deadline of June 15, 2023. The competition brief invites students and professionals to design an agricultural center in Allensworth, California—the first town in the state to be founded, financed, and governed by African Americans. Emphasizing decarbonization, social equity, and community resilience, the brief asks participants to create designs that recognize and advance the site’s enduring aspiration to become a thriving destination for sustainable agriculture and Black history.
