This June, the Roppongi Museum in Tokyo is hosting an exhibition titled "Miss Dior: Stories of a Miss.” Designed by OMA/Shohei Shigematsu, the display presents the 78-year legacy of the renowned Miss Dior perfume, which was launched alongside Dior's revolutionary "The New Look" in 1946. Organized as a journey through seven rooms, the exhibition design features not only the perfume and related memorabilia but also explores the various inspirations and collaborations that have shaped its cultural significance.
Leah Wulfman Poster Image. Image Courtesy of Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers
The Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers is an annual portfolio competition for early-career practitioners in North America. Established in 1981, the competition is entered around a yearly theme. This year, the 2024 Young Architects + Designers Committee proposed the theme “Dirty,” prompting designers to “look beyond their presentations of professionalism, respectability, and expertise” and reject the sanitized ways of working.
The original work of the six winners of the 2024 League Prize for Young Architects + Designers is now on view in an online exhibition. The installations created for this occasion showcase the wide variety of responses and interpretations of the overarching theme. The projects presented online and in some instances also locally on-site, challenge traditional architectural practices and offer an immersive introduction to the works of the winners. In addition to the installations, a diverse program of lectures has been scheduled to develop the theme further.
Squama Museum building from the Aura river. Image Courtesy of Sigge Architects
Finnish office Sigge Architects has been announced as the winner of the international competition for the design of the Museum of History and the Future in Finland's oldest city, Turku. The proposal, selected out of over 400 entries, creates a permeable structure along the waterfront, acting as a catalyst for the regeneration of the area. The museum aims to showcase the most innovative scientific research through a wide variety of exhibitions, audio-visual installations, and educational spaces. Construction is expected to start in 2027 and be completed by 2029, with a public opening scheduled for 2030.
Noemí Blager and Tapio Snellman are presenting a new video installation at the Architectural Association (AA) in London. The exhibition titled “A Lot with Little” set out to explore and showcase how architects can employ a more economical use of resources to create architectural works that are both sensible and sustainable. Previously shown in Germany, Switzerland, China, Czechia, the US, and the Venice Architecture Biennale, this London debut aims to highlight the global relevance of resource-efficient architectural practices. The exhibition is now on view at the AA School in London from April 26, until May 30, 2024.
A new exhibition presenting the works of artist Zeng Fanzhi has opened in the historic Scuola Grande della Misericordia in Venice, Italy. Running from April 17 to September 30, 2024, concurrent with this year’s edition of the Venice Arts Biennale, the “Zeng Fanzhi: Near and Far/Now and Then” exhibition showcases the latest breakthroughs in the artist’s practice in a space adapted by architect Tadao Ando.
We Design Beirut, Lebanon’s four-day design experience will take place from May 23-26, 2024. This multidisciplinary event aims to showcase and celebrate design and creativity through a varied program, including showcases, installations, talks, and workshops. Founded by Mariana Wehbe in collaboration with industrial designer Samer Alameen, the event seeks to foster a global conversation on design and sustainability through programs in the fields of interior design, architecture, furniture, product design, functional art, ceramics, and home accessories.
The Vitra Design Museum presents 'Transform! Designing the Future of Energy', an exhibition running from March 23rd to September 1st, 2024. As energy stands as the cornerstone of modern society, the subject encompasses political, social, and environmental dimensions. The exhibition aims to highlight design’s role in the effort to transform the energy sector into a more efficient, reliable, and sustainable one, relying more on renewable sources, smart mobility systems, and moving towards self-sufficient cities.
Brooklyn-based firm SO-IL has revealed the design for a new campus art museum at Williams College in Massachusetts, created to become a primary teaching resource for the institution renowned for its art history program. Since its inauguration in 1926, the Williams College Museum of Art has gathered an expansive collection of over 15,000 works. Through the design of SO-IL, the museum will be able to move into its first freestanding purpose-built home. In May 2024, the museum will present an exhibition on SO-IL’s design.
Courtesy of Thom Mayne | Constructing the Spontaneous
The Pritzker-winning architect Thom Mayne is presenting his display “Constructing the Spontaneous” in the Paul Kyle Gallery in Vancouver, Canada. Known for his contributions to architecture and design, the architect founded Morphosis in 1972, embodying his philosophy of architecture as an ever-evolving, dynamic process. Mayne’s latest display features his artworks, diving into the intricate relationship between cutting-edge technology and timeless human expression.
Salone del Mobile.Milano has announced the opening dates and events program, expanding the trade fair event to encompass more narratives and projects relevant to the design community. The 62nd edition will take place at Rho Fiera Ilano from April 16 to 21, 2024. It is expected to include over 1900 exhibitors from around the world, with contributions from emerging designers and several design schools under the recurring SaloneSatellite, now in its 25th-anniversary edition. The cultural program also includes immersive installations, like David Lynch’s “Thinking Rooms.”
Studio Monnik, 'Alles Komt Goed', 2023. ‘Poreuze Stad’, Illustratie van Jan Cleijne. Een toekomstscenario voor Amsterdam in 2089. Image Courtesy of Het Nieuwe Instituut
Still, the country faces expected and unexpected challenges, from an acute housing shortage to raising concerns regarding climate change and shifting ideas of ecology. In the words of curator Suzanne Mulder, the country is “once again on the drawing board,” as architects, urban planners, and designers are reopening conversations about the future by looking at past lessons. To come to their help, Rotterdam’s Nieuwe Instituut is organizing the exhibition ‘Designing the Netherlands: 100 Years of Past & Present Futures.’
Heatherwick Studio’s exhibition “Building Soulfulness” just opened at the Bund Finance Center in Shanghai. Curated by Mami Kataoka, it will run from January 17th to March 14th, 2024. The display celebrates the studio’s designs, emphasizing their enduring connection with China. The exhibition is taking place at the Fosun Foundation inside the Bund Finance Center, which was designed by Heatherwick Studios and Foster + Partners back in 2017.
As a landscape architect, Dan Kiley has significantly contributed to the world of design. The designer worked with influential architects such as Louis Kahn, I.M. Pei, and Eero Saarinen. Influenced by the timeless landscapes of André Le Nôtre, most of his designs are well-known for their manner of merging grids and allées, striking a balance between natural and organized beauty.
Opening January 18th, “The Landscape Architecture Legacy of Dan Kiley” exhibition is a traveling photographic exhibition honoring one of the most critical Modernist landscape architects. Curated by The Cultural Landscape Foundation, the display aims to explore and spread awareness of the architect’s profound impact. Showcased at The Exhibition Space @ ABC Stone in Brooklyn, the show offers a captivating journey through 27 carefully chosen designs by Dan Kiley.
“ReviveR,” a new exhibition by MVRDV opened at the Shenzhen Women & Children’s Centre, focused on the different narratives surrounding its hosting building, from the role of play and social interaction, to the importance of fun environments for people of all ages, along with the need to reduce carbon emissions by applying principles of circularity. The exhibition is on display in the building’s 5th-floor auditorium from December 6, 2023, until February 28, 2024.
Left: ‘(Re)membering the See Monster’ by Eldry John Infante; Centre: The Archatographic Map of the Incomplete Landscape on Pedra Branca’ by Eugene Tan; Right: ‘Grundtvig’ by Ben Johnson. Image Courtesy of Architecture Drawing Prize
The Architecture Drawing Prize, now in its 7th edition, celebrates the art of drawing in three main categories: hand-drawn, digital, and hybrid. The Prize attracted nearly 250 drawings from around the world, a record for the competition, with the majority of entries being in the hand-drawn category. The winners of each category have been announced. The winning drawings, along with the shortlisted entries will be displayed at the World Architecture Festival in Singapore from 29 November until 1 December 2023, and at Sir John Soane’s Museum in London from 31 January to 3 March 2024. The Overall Winner will announced on 29 January 2024 as part of a webinar hosted by Sir John Soane’s Museum, ahead of the exhibition.
According to the jury, the technologies used by the entrants to find creative ways of depicting buildings generated probing discussions among the jury members, testing the nature and definition of architectural drawing. Sponsored by Iris Ceramica Group, the Architecture Drawing Prize is co-curated by Make Architects, Sir John Soane’s Museum and World Architecture Festival (WAF).
In terms of activism, disruption is a necessary element of effective protest. When acts of disruption spill into the public domain, they carve out spaces through blockades, defenses, and territorial claims, giving rise to ‘protest architecture.’ This concept is the focus of the exhibition organized by DAM – Deutsches Architekturmuseum and the MAK – Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Vienna. Titled “Protest/Architecture. Barricades, Camps, Superglue,” the event showcases a collection of models, photographs, and films depicting the evolution of protest architecture around the world. The exhibition, curated by Oliver Elser with curatorial assistance and research by Anna-Maria Mayerhofer, is open from September 16, 2023, until January 14, 2024, at the DAM OSTEND in Frankfurt.
Zaha Hadid Architects has unveiled plans for a striking 330-meter-tall skyscraper within the Trojena ski resort, situated in the Neom development in Saudi Arabia. The design was first presented at the Cityscape Conference in Riyadh as part of an exhibition focused on the Neom project. The new crystal-like skyscraper will be located on a mountain overlooking a central artificial lake, as it is planned to become an integral element of the Trojena, a region allegedly master-planned by LAVA architects. Zaha Hadid Architects have also revealed the design of a second structure within Trojena, a lookout pavilion located next to the skyscraper.
Two years ago, on September 18, 2021, Christo and Jeanne-Claude's L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped, 1961–2021, was inaugurated. The monumental public artwork wrapped the Parisian monument in over 25,000 square meters of silvery fabric tied in place with 7,000 meters of red rope. The materials, all made out of woven polypropylene, a type of thermoplastic, are now being reused, upcycled, and recycled, following the artists’ vision. Most of the materials will be transformed to serve practical uses for future public events in Paris. The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation is also collaborating with Gagosian to bring Christo’s early works to London’s East End for an exhibition open from October 6-22, 2023.
