As the global architecture and design community enters a bustling season of critical reflection and forward-looking exploration, RECORD’s monthly curation highlights a diverse lineup of upcoming and ongoing exhibitions, international events, and high-stakes design competitions. From historical retrospectives celebrating a century of avant-garde housing to cutting-edge explorations of artificial intelligence and climate resilience, cultural institutions around the world are turning their focus toward how design shapes our past, present, and future.
Fall Highlights and Major Exhibitions
Kicking off the autumn season in Scandinavia, Finland’s Design Museum is dedicating its primary fall exhibition to the remarkable work of renowned designer couple Antti and Vuokko Nurmesniemi. Working both independently and collaboratively across architecture, fashion, and interior design, the pair left an indelible mark on the development of the Finnish design industry during the latter half of the 20th century. Their cross-disciplinary approach continues to serve as an inspiration for modern practitioners looking to bridge the gaps between various creative fields.
Meanwhile, in Rhinebeck, New York, ‘T’ Space Gallery is marking a major milestone for an influential publishing initiative. Founded in 1978 by architect Stephen Holl, Pamphlet Architecture was created as an experimental platform to amplify the voices of emerging architects—historically serving as an early career launchpad for luminaries such as Zaha Hadid, Lars Lerup, and Mark Mack. To celebrate its 37th issue and over four decades of continuous production, the gallery is presenting an exhibition featuring the five finalists from Pamphlet’s 2021 open call. Titled "Visions and Experiments in Architecture," the competition invited applicants to conceptualize new architectural frameworks for a shifting social and political consciousness. The exhibition also pays tribute to the publication’s history and honors publisher Kevin Lippert, who passed away earlier this spring, offering visitors a comprehensive look at the enduring impact of experimental architectural publishing.
Ongoing Exhibitions
In Seoul, South Korea, Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) is deepening its engagement with virtual and digital environments through a prominent exhibition at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) museum—a striking landmark structure originally designed by the firm in 2014. Titled "Meta-Horizons: The Future Now," the exhibition follows closely on the heels of the firm’s unveiling of Liberland, its own metaverse city. The showcase explores the profound potential of advanced architectural technologies, including virtual reality and AI-driven design methodologies, as illustrated through ZHA’s extensive portfolio. The immersive experience is further enriched by digital art installations created by renowned artist Refik Anadol, signaling a rapidly evolving frontier where physical structures and virtual realms intersect.
In the United States, the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., is hosting "Justice is Beauty: The Work of MASS Design Group," an expansive look at the firm’s pioneering portfolio. The exhibition highlights extensive research, forward-thinking proposals, and built projects focused on the critical intersection of architecture and public health. Running concurrently within the museum is "The Gun Violence Memorial Project," a powerful installation conceived by artist Hank Willis Thomas in collaboration with the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund. The moving memorial comprises four distinct glass-brick houses containing personal mementos that commemorate lives lost to gun violence, underscoring the deep social responsibility embedded within the design and spatial arts.
On the West Coast, Los Angeles is celebrating the centennial anniversary of one of its most celebrated architectural treasures. Built in 1922, R.M. Schindler’s iconic West Hollywood home has lived many lives over the past century. The architect originally constructed the residence as a radical experiment in communal living for himself, his wife Pauline, and their friends Clyde and Marian Chace. Since 1994, the property has functioned as the headquarters of the MAK Center for Art and Architecture, an independent satellite of Vienna’s MAK museum. Curated by MAK Center Director Jia Yi Gu alongside architectural historians Gary Riichirō Fox and Sarah Hearne, the exhibition titled "Schindler House: 100 Years in the Making" presents a delicate timeline charting the physical evolution, construction, and deconstruction of the landmark. Historical archives are thoughtfully juxtaposed with contemporary interventions by artists including Carmen Argote, Fiona Connor, Julian Hoeber, and Peter Shire.
Shifting to Vienna, the MAK Exhibition Hall is currently presenting the first comprehensive retrospective of the avant-garde architecture group Missing Link. Active between 1970 and 1980, the collective was founded by Angela Hareiter, Otto Kapfinger, and Adolf Krischanitz with the shared goal of investigating the architectural discipline far outside the rigid confines of academia and professional practice. Their diverse body of work encompasses everything from utopian, visionary proposals for collective living arrangements to meticulous research studies examining the complex urban networks of Vienna.
In London, "The Garden of Privatised Delights"—originally commissioned by the British Council and curated by Unscene Architecture for the Venice Architecture Biennale—continues its exploration of the built environment at the Building Centre. The exhibition critically examines the proliferation of privately owned public spaces across the United Kingdom, issuing a compelling call for fresh architectural approaches to resolve ongoing conflicts between private commercial interests and the public good. A selection of prominent British architecture firms, including the Decorators, Studio Polpo, and vPPR Architects, contribute seven distinct, inclusive reimaginings of these privatized urban zones.
New York City’s cultural institutions are similarly hosting major retrospective and site-specific presentations this season. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, visitors can experience the first posthumous retrospective of legendary German photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher. Bringing together more than 200 works, the exhibition celebrates the couple’s monumental contribution to visual culture through their meticulous documentation of disappearing industrial architecture across the postwar era.
Meanwhile, along the waterfront at Brooklyn Bridge Park—a historic maritime harbor that once linked the Americas to Europe and Africa—the Public Art Fund has mounted "Black Atlantic." Inspired by Paul Gilroy’s influential 1993 book, the exhibition features new, site-specific installations by contemporary artists Hugh Hayden, Leilah Babirye, Dozie Kanu, Tau Lewis, and Kiyan Williams. By emphasizing both expansive global histories and deeply personal identities through large-scale fabrications, the artists explore the enduring cultural and spatial impacts of transatlantic networks on the African diaspora.
Events
As autumn progresses, the professional community will gather for high-profile symposia, tours, and festivals addressing pressing ecological and social challenges. In Dallas, The Cultural Landscape Foundation is organizing the Oberlander Prize Forum II: Landscape Activism on October 28, 2022. The conference will bring together a distinguished group of design professionals, historians, and critics to evaluate the transformative impact of activist methodologies within contemporary landscape architecture and environmental design, spotlighting the pioneering work of figures such as Julie Bargmann of D.I.R.T. Studio and the prominent design firm OLIN.
In Texas, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) is bringing back its highly anticipated AIA Austin Homes Tour in person for the first time since 2019. Scheduled for October 22 and 23, the self-guided event invites enthusiasts to explore innovative residential designs created by local firms throughout Austin, with this year’s featured practices including Lake|Flato, Studio Steinbomer, and Furman + Keil Architects.
Looking toward the end of November, Berlin will host "Driving the Human: Seven Prototypes for Eco-social Renewal." Taking place from November 25 to 27, the three-day festival marks the culmination of a rigorous three-year transdisciplinary collaboration, research initiative, and design process aimed at confronting the global climate crisis. The event centers around seven realized prototypes designed to address complex contemporary scenarios, ranging from the ethical potential of artificial intelligence to human-bacteria partnerships designed to mitigate environmental degradation.
Competitions
Amid these conversations regarding climate resilience and urban equity, design competitions are challenging the next generation of thinkers to propose concrete solutions to urgent metropolitan crises. In Miami, where the coastal municipality faces the compounding pressures of housing affordability and rapid sea-level rise—a phenomenon increasingly referred to as "climate gentrification"—Arch Out Loud is currently accepting submissions for its Miami Floating Housing competition. The design challenge calls for innovative architectural proposals for floating housing developments situated within Biscayne Bay, with regular registration open through November 8 ahead of the final submission deadline on November 9, 2022.
