Sensing Spaces exhibition opens at the Royal Academy

Architects including Álvaro Siza, Eduardo Souto de Moura and Kengo Kuma have taken over the galleries of London’s Royal Academy of Arts for an architecture exhibition that features a labyrinth of sticks, an inhabitable timber monument and a web of scented bamboo (+ slideshow).

Pezo von Ellrichshausen at Sensing Spaces
Pezo von Ellrichshausen – image copyright Dezeen

Opening to the public later this week, Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined comprises a series of site-specific installations inserted into the main galleries and front courtyard of the Royal Academy, which are designed to explore the most fundamental elements of architectural space.

“Unlike almost any other art form, architecture is part of our everyday life, but its ability to dramatically affect the way we think, feel and interact with one another is often overlooked,” said curator Kate Goodwin.

Pezo von Ellrichshausen at Sensing Spaces
Pezo von Ellrichshausen – image copyright Dezeen

The first installation is a towering wooden structure by Chilean architects Pezo von Ellrichshausen intended to reveal parts of the gallery that are usually left unseen.

Pezo von Ellrichshausen at Sensing Spaces
Pezo von Ellrichshausen – photograph by James Harris

Four chunky columns each contain spiral staircases, leading up to a viewing platform positioned at the height of the gallery’s cornices. Here, visitors are offered a framed view of the room’s ornamental ceiling, before descending via a gently sloping ramp hidden within the rear wall.

Eduardo Souto de Moura at Sensing Spaces
Eduardo Souto de Moura – image copyright Dezeen

Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura has added a pair of concrete arches to two galleries within the exhibition. Constructed from a high-performance reinforced concrete, the arches mirror two existing doorways, but are positioned at an angle to align with buildings located outside the gallery.

Eduardo Souto de Moura at Sensing Spaces
Eduardo Souto de Moura – image copyright Dezeen

“This installation is about the permanence of form and continuity in architecture,” Souto de Moura told Dezeen at the press launch earlier today. “What changes are the materials, the construction system and, of course, the architectural language.

Kengo Kuma at Sensing Spaces
Kengo Kuma – photograph by James Harris

The piece by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma also occupies two rooms within the gallery. Designed to emphasise the importance of smell in architecture, the intricate bamboo structures are infused with aromas that Kuma associates with the house he grew up in. “The concept was to minimise materials but to maximise senses,” the architect told Dezeen.

Kengo Kuma at Sensing Spaces
Kengo Kuma – image copyright Dezeen

The first structure is positioned in the centre of the gallery and takes on the smell of hinoki, a kind of Japanese cedar often used in construction, while the second wraps around the edges of a small room and is infused with the smell of tatami, the traditional straw mats used as flooring in most Japanese houses.

Li Xiaodong at Sensing Spaces
Li Xiaodong – image copyright Dezeen

Li Xiaodong of China constructed a maze of hazel for his section of the exhibition. Visitors weave their way through narrow pathways with illuminated floors, eventually finding various wooden hideaways.

Li Xiaodong at Sensing Spaces
Li Xiaodong – image copyright Dezeen

Further on, the space opens out to a pool of pebbles. A mirrored wall allows the space to appear larger than it really is, while a small window offers an opportunity for a second glance on the way out.

Grafton Architects at Sensing Spaces
Grafton Architects – photograph by James Harris

The spatial qualities of light and shadow shaped the installation by Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of Irish firm Grafton Architects. The architects suspended large wooden structures from the ceilings of two galleries to recreate the experiences of both sun and moonlight.

Grafton Architects at Sensing Spaces
Li Xiaodong – image copyright Dezeen

Concealed lighting moves gently across the ceilings to subtly change the conditions of the rooms at different times, while benches encourage visitors to sit down for prolonged periods of time.

Diébédo Francis Kéré at Sensing Spaces
Diébédo Francis Kéré – photograph by James Harris

The sixth structure in the show was designed by architect Diébédo Francis Kéré, who works between Germany and Burkina Faso in Africa. Rather than using clay, a material Kéré is more familiar with, the architect chose to construct a tunnel using a plastic honeycomb panels.

Diébédo Francis Kéré at Sensing Spaces
Diébédo Francis Kéré – image copyright Dezeen

Colourful straws are positioned around the installation allowing visitors to make their own additions to its form, so that over the course of the exhibition its surface will transform into a mass of spikes.

Álvaro Siza at Sensing Spaces
Álvaro Siza – image copyright Dezeen

Álvaro Siza‘s installation is located outside the galleries in the Royal Academy’s entrance courtyard and consists of three concrete columns that have been coloured with yellow pigment. Only one of the columns is complete and mimics the architectural piers of the historical Burlington House facade.

Álvaro Siza at Sensing Spaces
Álvaro Siza – image copyright Dezeen

The exhibition was curated by Kate Goodwin. It also features a 15-minute film where all seven architects describe their designs for the exhibition and introduce their previous work.

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Alvaro Siza and Kengo Kuma to feature in major exhibition at London’s RA

Architects announced for major exhibition at the RA

News: architects including Alvaro Siza, Eduardo Souto de Moura and Kengo Kuma will create installations inside London’s Royal Academy of Arts for an upcoming architecture exhibition.

Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined will see seven architects create temporary structures across the 13 main galleries of the Royal Academy of Arts (RA).

The selected architects are Pritzker Prize winners Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura of Portugal, Kengo Kuma of Japan, Stirling Prize nominees Grafton Architects of Ireland, Li Xiaodong of China, Pezo von Ellrichshausen of Chile and Diébédo Francis Kéré of Burkina Faso and Germany.

Each architect will create a sensory and spatial intervention exploring the emotive powers of architecture inside the Grade II* listed galleries of the London institution.

Speaking at a press event earlier today, the RA’s architecture curator Kate Goodwin said she hopes the exhibition will help “visitors rediscover the quality of architecture”.

Also present at the event, Grafton Architects director Yvonne Farrell told Dezeen: “What is different about this exhibition is that it’s not about representing projects and buildings.”

“What Kate asked us to do is to focus on fundamental qualities that we’ve been searching for generally in our work and find a way of expressing that to the public,” said Farrell.

Although the designs of each structure are yet to be unveiled, Goodwin hinted that Kuma’s piece is to be based on the Japanese performing art of Kodo. Grafton Architects will manipulate “light from the skylights” in the central gallery, and Xiaodong’s contribution will be a “labyrinth”.

The RA released one teaser image showing a dark corridor with a glowing floor (top).

A special film in one gallery will play interviews with the architects speaking about their designs for the exhibition and introducing their previous work. Visitors will be encouraged to touch, interact and take photos of the installations.

Sensing Spaces will open to the public on 25 January 2014 and run until 6 April 2014.

Currently on show at the RA is a retrospective of work by Richard Rogers, with whom we filmed a series of interviews to coincide with the exhibition and his 80th birthday.

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Competition: five pairs of Richard Rogers exhibition tickets to be won

Richard Rogers exhibition tickets to be won

Competition: Dezeen has teamed up with Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners to give away five pairs of tickets to a retrospective exhibition of work by architect Richard Rogers at the Royal Academy of Arts.

The Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London opened last week to coincide with the British architect’s 80th birthday.

Richard Rogers exhibition tickets to be won

On display are original sketches and models of Rogers’ iconic and recent designs, including the Centre Pompidou in Paris designed with Renzo Piano and the Leadenhall Building in the City of London that topped out last month.

Rogers spoke to Dezeen about architecture’s civic responsibility on the eve of the exhibition’s opening.

Richard Rogers exhibition tickets to be won

The exhibition is open until 13 October at the Burlington Gardens gallery of the Royal Academy of Arts – read more about it in our previous story.

To enter this competition email your name, age, gender, occupation, and delivery address and telephone number to competitions@dezeen.com with “Richard Rogers exhibition” in the subject line. We won’t pass your information on to anyone else; we just want to know a little about our readers. Read our privacy policy here.

You need to subscribe to our newsletter to have a chance of winning. Sign up here.

Richard Rogers exhibition tickets to be won

Competition closes 23 August 2013. Five winners will be selected at random and notified by email. Winners’ names will be published in a future edition of our Dezeen Mail newsletter and at the top of this page. Dezeen competitions are international and entries are accepted from readers in any country.

Richard Rogers exhibition tickets to be won

See all our stories about Richard Rogers »

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Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts

Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out exhibition

Dezeen promotion: an exhibition dedicated to the work of British architect Richard Rogers opens at London’s Royal Academy of Arts today.

Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out exhibition
Centre Pompidou, photo by David Noble. Top photo by Katsuhisa Kida

Timed to coincide with Rogers’ 80th birthday, the exhibition contains a retrospective of the architect’s career – from his early experiences and education to his current portfolio of work with Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners.

Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out exhibition
Escalators of the Centre Pompidou

Original architectural drawings, sketches and photographs of his iconic buildings will be displayed, such as the radical Centre Pompidou in Paris, designed with Renzo Piano, Lloyd’s headquarters in London and the Bordeaux Law Courts.

Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out exhibition
Centre Pompidou elevation from the competition entry

Rogers will reflect on his architectural career during an evening discussion on 19 July and he will be joined by Piano to chat about their collaboration at another event on 4 October.

Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out exhibition
The Room at Lloyd’s of London, photo by Janet Gill

A series of Friday evening talks themed on architecture and urban design will include speakers Michael Pinsky, Dan Pearson and Douglas Murphy and will be free to anyone with an exhibition ticket.

Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out exhibition
New Area Terminal, Madrid Airport, photo by Manuel Renau

The exhibition opens to the public from today until 13 October at the Burlington Gardens gallery of the Royal Academy of Arts.

Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out exhibition
National Assembly for Wales, photo by Katsuhisa Kida

Tickets cost £8 and concessions are available, while children under 12 free and Friends of the RA go free.

Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out exhibition
Wimbledon House, photo by Richard Bryant

For more details about the exhibition visit the Royal Academy of Arts website.

Ahead of the exhibition, Richard Rogers spoke to Dezeen about how architecture’s civic responsibility has been eroded in “an age of greed”. Read the interview »

See all our stories about Richard Rogers »
See more architecture by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners »

The following information is from the organisers:


Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out

Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out will explore the ideas and ethos of the internationally renowned architect and urbanist Lord Rogers of Riverside. Timed to coincide with Rogers’ 80th birthday, the exhibition will examine his social, political and cultural influences and their connection to his architecture. Previously unseen original material, drawings and personal items, will present a unique insight into the thinking behind one of the world’s most celebrated architects. Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out will be held in Burlington Gardens, the Royal Academy’s new venue for contemporary art and architecture.

The exhibition will draw on key stages in Rogers’ life, from the influence of his Italian family, his experience of wartime and post-war Britain, his education at the Architectural Association and Yale, and the impact of seeing new American architecture and technology. Visitors will be introduced to Rogers’ principles through the presentation of major projects and collaborations, revealing his pioneering ideas about architecture and his belief in the need to create vibrant cities for everyone.

Rogers has consistently worked with themes that are far wider than conventional architectural thinking, articulating them as a spokesperson, writer, politician and activist, as well as an architect. For over half a century, Rogers has advocated the social objectives of architecture, the importance of public space, urban regeneration and better planning, through innovative design. He has played a pivotal role in master-planning and shaping government policy on urban development, believing that architecture is the most powerful agent for social change.

A number of high-profile projects that incorporate Rogers’ architectural principles will be showcased. These will include the Centre Pompidou, designed with Renzo Piano and still considered one of the most radical modern buildings since its opening in 1977, the Grade 1 listed headquarters for Lloyd’s of London, and the Bordeaux Law Courts. Through these projects Rogers has established himself and his practice, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, as standing at the forefront of the architecture industry.

The exhibition will bring together the far reaching effects that Rogers’ interest in the politics of social justice has had on architecture and public policy.

Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out exhibition
Wimbledon House sketch

Join the debate

To encourage visitors to engage in the debates and issues around architecture today, the final room in the exhibition will be a space for dialogue and discussion, events and workshops, where visitors can share their views and hear from high- profile speakers in related fields. Also look out for Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners Manufactured House in the courtyard through August until early September. This innovative, flat packed, environmentally efficient home is an example of how new building technologies can help shape better mass housing.

Friday Evening Soapbox Talks

Taking place in Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out, the Soapbox provides a literal platform for key figures from the worlds of architecture, design, art and engineering to make fresh and passionate 15-minute polemics on some the central issues confronting architecture and cities, today and in the future. Provocative and inspiring, contentious and stimulating, audience participation is actively encouraged!

7–7.30pm – Gallery 10, Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington Gardens. Free with an exhibition ticket (no booking required).

» 26 July: Michael Pinsky – fresh and passionate polemics on central issues confronting architecture and cities.
» 2 August: Douglas Murphy – writer and critic. Murphy will be asking ‘Whose Future?’
» 9 August: Carolyn Steel – architect and leading thinker on food and cities, Steel will discuss “Sitopia: The Creative Power of Food”.
» 16 August: Dan Pearson – leading landscape designer, Pearson’s work ranges from small private gardens to large-scale, multifaceted public spaces and parks.
» 30 August: Anna Minton – Minton discusses ‘how the security which comes with privatised ‘public’ places creates fear and paranoia. A truly public realm by contrast, is open, inclusive and democratic’.

Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out exhibition
Zip-up House, courtesy of Richard + Su Rogers

Evening Events

Please check RA website for full details, timings and tickets.

» 19 July: Richard Rogers RA in Conversation
» 9 September: Architecture and Politics
» 23 September: Designing Cities
» 4 October: Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano with Alan Rusbridger

For more details of daytime events, family activities, exhibition and architecture tours visit the exhibition website here.

Organisation

Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out is organised by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSH-P) and the Royal Academy of Arts. The exhibition has been curated by Jeremy Melvin, Consultant Curator for Architecture, Royal Academy of Arts. The exhibition is designed by Ab Rogers Design with graphics by Graphic Thought Facility.

Supported by: Ferrovial Agroman, Heathrow and Laing O’Rourke. Investing today to transform tomorrow.

Media Partner: The Guardian

Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out exhibition
“London As it Could Be” drawing

Catalogue

An illustrated catalogue has been published to accompany the exhibition Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out, with contributions from Michael Heseltine, Anne Powers, Michael Craig-Martin and Ricky Burdett amongst others.

Dates

Open to the public: Thursday 18 July – Sunday 13 October 2013, 10am – 6pm daily (last admission 5.30pm)

Late night opening: Fridays until 10pm (last admission 9.30pm)

Admission

£8 full price; concessions available; children under 12 free; Friends of the RA go free.

Tickets

Tickets for Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out are available daily at the RA or visit www.royalacademy.org.uk. Group bookings: Groups of 10+ are asked to book in advance. Telephone 020 7300 8027 or email: groupbookings@royalacademy.org.uk

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Critics’ reactions to Building the Revolution: Soviet Art and Architecture, 1915-1935


Dezeen Wire:
 art and architecture critics have been offering their opinions on Building the Revolution: Soviet Art and Architecture, 1915-1935, an exhibition presenting the revolutionary imagery of communist Russia at the Royal Academy in London.

The Observer‘s architecture critic Rowan Moore explains that, although much of the architecture is fundamentally flawed, it had a lasting impact on subsequent creative movements and says “the buildings and paintings of the 1920s are presented to the Academy’s bourgeois crowds as an interesting alternative to Degas’ ballet dancers.”

Edwin Heathcote of the Financial Times also writes about the legacy of Constructivism, stating: “part of the fascination here is the juxtaposition of these pure compositions with contemporary images of the architecture they inspired,” adding that the exhibition could offer a lesson on dynamic and memorable presentation to those with contemporary anti-capitalist views.

Art critic Judith Flanders reviews the show for The Arts Desk and says that while the exhibits are spectacular, there is a moral concern regarding the display of projects that glorify a Communist regime that was responsible for millions of deaths, suggesting that it takes “aesthetic objectivity too far.”

In a preview in The Independent (see our previous story), architecture critic Jay Merrick claimed the exhibition re-energises the meaning of the word “revolution” in art and architecture, adding that it “is an irony-free zone, a laboratory containing some of the stark experiments that ignited the most radical movement that modernist art and architecture has ever known.”

The exhibition continues at the Royal Academy until 22 January.

Dezeenwire

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New exhibition of Soviet art and architecture “deserves to be stampeded”- The Independent


Dezeen Wire:
 architecture critic Jay Merrick lauds the forthcoming exhibition Building the Revolution: Soviet Art and Architecture 1915-35 at the Royal Academy in London and explains how the bold, fragmented imagery of this period has influenced contemporary architects from Zaha Hadid to Rem Koolhaas – The Independent

Merrick delves into the historical circumstances that informed the revolutionary approach to creativity of artists and architects such as El Lissitzky, Alexandr Rodchenko and Vladimir Tatlin, stating that “in a world awash with ‘iconic’ architecture, nothing comes even close to radiating the raw potency of this truly revolutionary form.”

Restaurant at the Royal Academy by Tom Dixon

New Royal Academy Restaurant by Tom Dixon

British designer Tom Dixon has completed the interior of the new restaurant at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

New Royal Academy Restaurant by Design Research Studio

Created for restauranteur Oliver Peyton of Peyton & Byrne, the dining area features a free-standing metal-framed glass unit to house sculptures that were previously hidden away in the Academy’s archives.

New Royal Academy Restaurant by Design Research Studio

A bar made of lava stone and handmade bricks lines one end of the room, while the dining area has been divided into zones each inspired by an architect or artist key to the Academy’s history, including John Soane and J.M.W Turner.

New Royal Academy Restaurant by Design Research Studio

Furniture and lighting designed by Dixon also features, including a new range of chairs and the perforated Etch lamps (see our earlier story), which hang in clusters.

New Royal Academy Restaurant by Design Research Studio

Dixon oversaw the project as creative director of interior design firm Design Research Studio.

New Royal Academy Restaurant by Design Research Studio

More projects by Tom Dixon »
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New Royal Academy Restaurant by Design Research Studio

Here’s some more information from Design Research Studio:


Interior design practice, Design Research Studio, under the direction of British designer Tom Dixon, are creating the interior for the new restaurant at the Royal Academy of Arts. This is the latest project for renowned restaurateur Oliver Peyton of Peyton and Byrne. The 150 cover restaurant will open to the public 18th January 2011.

The 250 m2 refurbishment references the long and illustrious history of the Royal Academy of Arts with materials chosen to complement the existing fabric of the Regency building including marble, brass and velvet.

The dining area is divided into different zones, with each area inspired by the work of a different Royal Academy Great such as Turner and Sir John Soane. To extend the gallery experience for diners, Design Research Studio has designed a dramatic free-standing unit in the centre of the space. Consisting of a number of glass cubes, the structure will house an extraordinary selection of sculptures and busts dating back to 1897. The pieces belong to the Royal Academy of Arts permanent collection but have long been stored out of public view.

The new bar is set to be a key focal point in the restaurant made from Mount Etna lava stone and hand-made glazed brick. Designed as a robust, sculptural object, its grandeur is enhanced by a dramatic cast glass chandelier suspended above. Other interior highlights include digitally etched brass pendant lights and injection-moulded foam seating.


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