Biennales, Triennials and Exhibitions[1]

Disassembled by the hands who assembled it, repacked, reshipped, returned or left abandoned where once was – though momentarily - a home. Where do biennales, triennials and exhibitions all go?

There are many texts[2] and talks[3] on architecture exhibitions that explore the tenuous relationship between curating and exhibiting architecture. Positions that explore the distinction between representation and presentation. As well as the architect’s role as curator, as exhibitor and as viewer, in parallel to a public view. It is a unique typology that exists simultaneously for the public and for the discipline. One facet of architecture exhibition that remains in the background is its after-life.[4] If lucky, an exhibit gets a second of life of its own, typically in the fashion of a Grand Tour making a pilgrimage to other cities until the exhibit has exhausted its time. 

The notion of time here is critical. Architecture exhibitions, in all its forms, are a reflection of a precise and present moment in time. Braced between reflecting on the past and projecting towards a future, architecture biennales and exhibitions do not produce records of history, nor do they propose future speculations. Architecture exhibitions resonate in and reflect their present. What happens to biennales, triennials and exhibitions once the present becomes past?

Unlike art, architecture exhibits are not swept up by private collectors. In rare cases, they are acquired by private institutions for a nominal fee and more typically in the form of a donation. They may not even be claimed by the architects who made them, with cumbersome costs of logistics and shipping. More probable, remnants are dismantled and thrown out, scattered into domestic spaces, offices and if lucky personal archives. In any case, the agency of the exhibition’s after-life lies in its remnants of photos, publications, lectures and articles. This material and oral record transfer the value – intellectual and monetary – to the representational material of the exhibits. Coincidentally completing the paradox of exhibiting architecture in full circle. 

The exhibition as its own typology holds many perspectives. Some call for a critical reexamination of medium and model.[5] Others find it a place to generate new and productive thought that feeds back into their work. While those who dedicate their life’s practice to exhibiting architecture see each new exhibit as an architecture project in itself.[6] Perhaps exhibitions are more similar to buildings then they appear to be. Just as a building, in a way, only exists in the present, until it no longer serves its purpose then torn down, remodeled or preserved for the next.[7] 

This isn’t a suggestion to keep all things; there is a vitality in looking forward. Though each exhibit’s fate may be set, questions of waste and value seem to linger maybe simply asking: what for? On January 18th, over 140 exhibits will be dismantled in Chicago. Between Venice, Chicago, London, Shenzhen, Milan, Istanbul, Tallinn, Lisbon and Oslo alone[8] there are over 1300 exhibits created every two years. These projects aim to imagine, propose and test issues in the built, urban and ecological environments their frameworks set out. However, where does the value in our work lie and does any exist beyond 1300+ ideas, thoughts and memories? 

[1] For architecture.

[2] A select handful: Exhibiting Architecture: A Paradox?; Displayed Spaces: New Means of Architecture Presentation Through Exhibitions; The Power of Display

[3] Columbia GSAPP conference podcast by James Taylor-Foster Exhibition Models: Curating Architecture

[4] One attempt at a foreground material waste used to display work is Alejandro Aravena’s exhibit for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016.

[5] 2017 One Night Stand LA, Last Call

[6] Giovanna Borassi in conversation with James Taylor-Foster, Exhibition Models: Curating Architecture

[7] Dunlap, D. W. (2014, Feburary 12). Folk Art Building May Be Lost, but Façade Will Live: In Storage Somplace. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/13/nyregion/folk-art-building-will-be-demolished-but-its-facade-will-live-on.html.

[8] Golberg, M. (2017, April 6). You say Biennial, I say Biennale: 9 of Today’s Most Critical Architecture Biennials. Retrieved from https://archinect.com/features/article/150001297/you-say-biennial-i-say-biennale-9-of-today-s-most-critical-architecture-biennials.