The world is in constant motion. Not only are we perpetually moving – more than 100,000 flights take off every day and there are approximately 1.47 billion vehicles in the world – but our cityscapes, skylines and structures are forever being rebuilt and developed. There is always a desire for something new. This is drive not only by capitalism, but by the issues of the age. The post-WWII period, for example, saw a new resistance to the assumption that there should be rigidity in design. There was a desire to create buildings that could keep up with political and economic upheaval, social reforms and constant technological innovations. Right now, architects and creatives are grappling with effects of climate crisis, migration and humanitarian issues.
A new exhibition at MAXXI, curated by renowned studio Diller Scofido + Renfro, asks: if the world is always moving, why should architecture stand still? Visitors are welcomed by designs that change their configuration to adapt to surroundings and environments. The show includes pioneering architects from across the 20thcentury, such as Archigram, whose 1960s idea for a temporary city, that could be set up overnight, aimed to provide small towns with the resources of a metropolis. Tatsuyuki Maeda’s Nakagin Capsule Tower is also featured. It’s made of individual pods intended to be replaced every 25 years.
The collective result is an awe-inspiring tour around a world that perceived constructing a building not as a journey to a singular destination, but as a way to engage in a never-ending dialogue with the culture, space and society in which it is located.
Restless Architecture is at MAXXI, Rome until 16 March: maxxi.art
Words: Emma Jacob
Image Credits:
The Shed, Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Ph © IwanBaan. Courtesy Diller Scofidio + Renfro.
The Shed, Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Ph © IwanBaan. Courtesy Diller Scofidio + Renfro.
