Best of 2019. FOR FOREST by Klaus Littman – Photo by Gerhard Maurer, ©For Forest.

Best of 2019 – We rounded 7 exhibitions, installations and projects with a positive and proactive attitude responding to some of the most urgent issues of our times such climate change, gun violence, equal rights and immigration.

Women in architecture

Female-powered exhibitions and the possibility of equal rights.

DEEPER THAN TEXT – Photo by , courtesy of FDC.

New York Design Week showcased many women-powered exhibitions showing how female designers can truly make a difference and lead innovation. The ‘Deeper than Text’ exhibition by 1stdibs gallery and the Female Design Council (FDC), an organization dedicated to supporting women in the fields of design and creativity, featured the work of 19 established and emerging female designers from around the world. “We live in a society where many personal factors, notably gender, affect how we move through our professional landscape.” Says Lora Appleton, founder of the Female Design Council as well as of kinder MODERN to Archipanic. Read more…

Barca Nostra

Migrations and the (im)possibility of freedom.

© Barca NOSTRA.

At Venice Art Biennale, Christoph Büchel has brought to the lagoon the infamous shipping vessel that sank on April 18, 2015 with over 800 migrants imprisoned in its cargo. The Swiss-Icelandic artist transforms places, objects and architectures with a strong social and political relevance into art or monuments to trigger reflection and spark conversation. The BARCA NOSTRA art project, which means ‘Our Ship’ in Italian, “is a relic of a human tragedy but also a monument to contemporary migration, engaging real and symbolic borders and the (im)possibility of freedom of movement of information and people,” explains the artist to Archipanic. Read more…

Pink seesaws across the US-Mexico border

Borders and the possibility of mutual understanding.

Aerial view of Teeter Trotter – Photo by © Rael San Fratello studio.

“Architecture should bring togetherness”. This is what professors Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello of Rael San Fratello architecture studio believe. The California-based studio has re-imagined the the US-Mexico border wall installing pink seesaws that allowed children and adults from both sides to play together. “We just wanted to test what it meant to bring people together along the border through design.” Said Ronald Rael to Archipanic. Read more…

Multi-faith temples in Abu Dhabi

Architecture and the possibility of dialogue.

The Abrahamic Family House – All images: courtesy of Adjaye Associates.

A mosque, a church, a synagogue and a secular visitor pavilion welcome visitors of all faiths at The Abrahamic Family House, the inter religious complex designed by Adjaye Associates as a platform for understanding and coexistence between Muslims, Christians and Jews. Commissioned by The Higher Committee of Human Fraternity in Abu Dhabi, the project comprises “temples with plutonic shapes that will serve as a community for inter-religious dialogue and exchange.” Says Adjaye to Archipanic. Read more…

For Forest

The Alpine stadium and the reality of deforestation.

Photo by UNIMO, courtesy of ©For Forest

Klaus Littman has brought together art, nature and architecture by turning an Austrian football stadium into a forest. The temporary art intervention rallies in support of today’s most pressing issues on climate change and deforestation. “FOR FOREST aims to challenge our perception of nature and question its future. It seeks to become a memorial, reminding us that nature, which we so often take for granted, may someday only be found in specially designated spaces, as is already the case with animals in zoos.” Says Littman to Archipanic. Read more…

The Gun Violence Memorial Project

A monument as the evidence of a deadly epidemic.

Photo by Kendall McCaugherty, courtesy of Chicago Architecture Biennial and MASS Design Group.

At Chicago Architecture Biennial, MASS Design Group and conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas have created The Gun Violence Memorial Project: four houses built of 700 glass bricks, each one representing the average number of lives lost due to gun violence each week in America. “The memorial seeks to preserve individual memories and communicate the magnitude of the gun violence epidemic in built space, hoping to foster a national healing process that begins with a recognition of our collective loss and its impact on society.” Explain at MASS Design Group. Read more… 

Bent Pool

Sculpture and the threat of Climate Change.

Bent Pool by Elmgreen & Dragset in Miami Pride Park – All photos by Robin Hill.

Miami Beach is renown for fancy pool parties. During the city’s art & design week, Scandinavian duo Elmgreen & Dragset inaugurated BENT POOL, an oval swimming pool, bent in an inverted U-shape and standing upright on a two-tier plinth. The permanent sculpture is a reminder of the city’s endangered future due to flooding and rising sea level. Located in Pride Park, the monument pays also homage to the LGBT+ historical contribution to Miami cultural fabric.