As the cultural calendar shifts through the autumn and winter seasons, museums, galleries, and architectural institutions around the globe are unveiling an ambitious slate of exhibitions, public installations, and competitions. From major surveys exploring the enduring legacy of Surrealism to newly established cultural landmarks and forward-thinking architectural retrospectives, the design world is actively engaging with history, technology, and sustainability.
Leading the international exhibition circuit is the Design Museum in London, which has opened a sweeping and multifaceted exploration of the origins of Surrealist art and design alongside contemporary responses. Curated in collaboration with the Vitra Design Museum in Germany, the exhibition brings together an extraordinary collection of furniture, interior design, fashion, photography, and fine art. The display spans the 20th-century contributions of movement pioneers such as Salvador Dalí and Man Ray, while tracing their profound influence on recent tastemakers. Visitors can examine how the uncanny and dreamlike tenets of Surrealism manifest in modern couture from fashion houses like Schiaparelli and Dior, as well as in the visionary output of contemporary creators like Icelandic musician Björk. The exhibition offers a comprehensive look at how the irrational and the subconscious continue to shape creative disciplines nearly a century after the movement’s formal inception.
What’s Going On
In the United States, major cultural expansion continues to reshape the contemporary art landscape. Collectors Don and Mera Rubell, who have been acquiring contemporary art since 1965, have established one of the largest and most wide-ranging private collections in the world. Following the opening of their foundational museum in Miami in 1993, the foundation has inaugurated a significant new outpost: a sprawling 32,000-square-foot facility housed within a former public high school in Washington, D.C. The historic building underwent a meticulous renovation led by architecture firm Beyer Blinder Belle to adapt the educational spaces for gallery use.
For its inaugural presentation, the D.C. institution chose a title that serves as a direct homage to a 1971 album by legendary soul artist Marvin Gaye, who was an alumnus of the very school now housing the collection. The opening exhibition features more than 200 works by 40 artists, highlighting the breadth of the Rubells’ collecting vision. Among the standout pieces on view is a rare 20-part ink-and-gouache series by Keith Haring, which the artist completed in a single, continuous sitting while listening to the music of Marvin Gaye and Bob Marley.
Meanwhile, in Karlsruhe, Germany, the ZKM | Center for Art and Media is preparing to host a major winter retrospective dedicated to high-rise architect Ole Scheeren. Scheduled to run from December 10, 2022, through June 4, 2023, "Ole Scheeren: Spaces of Life" marks the first solo exhibition for the architect, who founded his eponymous firm in 2010. Born in Karlsruhe, Scheeren began his career at OMA in Rotterdam before earning international acclaim for monumental, structurally experimental projects that redefine urban density. His portfolio includes the award-winning China Central Television (CCTV) Station in Beijing and the interlocking residential volumes of The Interlace in Singapore. The exhibition will offer a deep dive into his philosophy of architectural humanism and urban connectivity.
Ongoing Exhibitions
Architectural and environmental discourse remains a central theme across a variety of ongoing international exhibitions. At the AA Gallery in London, visitors have been engaging with "The Future is a Journey to the Past: Stories about Sustainability," an exhibition curated by the Bologna-based practice Mario Cucinella Architects. Running through October 29, 2022, the showcase explores the evolving definition of sustainability and investigates how architecture can mediate the friction between natural ecosystems and human development. The exhibition features a detailed timeline tracing the history of environmental activism and stewardship, paired with a curated selection of the firm’s built projects that exemplify regenerative design principles. The show draws its conceptual framework from principal Mario Cucinella’s book of the same name, published earlier that year, in which the architect reflects on ten global journeys and speculates on humanity’s consumption of natural resources.
Along the coast of England, industrial heritage has been brilliantly repurposed for public engagement. In Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, a retired North Sea oil rig has been transformed by design studio Newsubstance into "See Monster," one of the UK’s largest temporary public art installations. After traveling by sea around the British coastline during the summer months, the colossal structure is docked in the Bristol Channel. Visitors navigate behind a dramatic water feature cascading from the lower platform to access four stories of interactive experiences, including a multi-level slide, a seated amphitheater, and elevated gardens. Commissioned for the nine-month-long Unboxed Festival, See Monster stands as a testament to the adaptive reuse and cultural reimagining of industrial infrastructure.
London’s cultural sector is also hosting "Our Friendly Neighbors" at the Korean Cultural Centre UK, organized in partnership with the Art Center Nabi in Seoul. Running through November 5, 2022, the exhibition highlights new works by contemporary South Korean artists Yiyun Kang, Bang & Lee, and Jinjoon Lee. The featured installations examine the complex intersections between art, technology, and the environment, prompting viewers to reconsider the boundaries of community and isolation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and rapid globalization.
In New York City, the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at Cooper Union has been presenting "Model Behavior" through November 18, 2022. Curated by the collaborative group Anyone Cooperation, the exhibition brings together more than 70 works by 45 artists and architects, including prominent figures such as Olafur Eliasson, Peter Eisenman, Eyal Weizman, and Greg Lynn. The exhibition poses critical questions about how architectural models function not merely as representations of unbuilt structures, but as active agents that reflect and influence societal behaviors far beyond the traditional boundaries of design.
On the West Coast, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art has mounted the first solo museum exhibition of award-winning architect Marshall Brown. Running through January 7, 2023, "The Architecture of Collage: Marshall Brown" features 25 of the architect’s striking works. Brown refers to these pieces as chimeras—invoking the mythical lion-goat-serpent hybrid—as they are constructed by splicing photographic elements of existing buildings to generate entirely new, speculative architectural morphologies and spatial relationships.
Events
Cultural celebration and architectural history converge in Nevada with "Duck Duck Shed: Celebrating Las Vegas Architecture, Design, and Culture." Hosted from October 27 to 30, 2022, the four-day event takes place at the Neon Museum, a landmark designed by the influential mid-century architect Paul Revere Williams. The gathering honors decades of pioneering architectural innovation, with a particular focus on the hospitality design that forged the identity of Las Vegas. The symposium’s speaker lineup features notable figures in urbanism and design, including urban planner Alan Hess and architect Jon Sparer, known for their work on defining destination resorts such as the Mirage, Paris Las Vegas, and the Bellagio.
Competitions
Educational and professional opportunities continue to foster emerging talent, exemplified by the launch of the 2023 FORM Student Innovation Competition. Organized by leading surfacing manufacturer Formica, the annual contest invites design students to submit a comprehensive color rendering and project statement for an original furniture design rooted in the aesthetic concept of maximalism. To qualify, student submissions must incorporate three or more products from the Formica or FENIX brand portfolios, with at least one material selected from the 2022 SurfaceSet collection. The deadline for entries is March 6, 2023.
