Restless Architecture
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Restless Architecture examines how architecture responds to a world in constant motion and defined by political instability, climate change, and rapidly evolving technologies. By contrast, architecture remains inert, rooted to the ground and slow to adapt. Whereas architecture is typically valued for its permanence and stability, the postwar era introduced a new resistance to architecture’s stubborn rigidity. Motivated by pragmatic and utopian ideals, the projects in this exhibition demonstrate how instability can also be a virtue.
Creating an exhibition on architecture and motion at MAXXI provided an opportunity to engage the dynamic of Zaha Hadid’s building, which presents its own form of “frozen movement.” In a dialogue with the flowing geometry of the gallery, the installation introduced motorized curtains that weave through the space to produce small video theaters that come and go, interrupting the exhibition to provide an additional layer of reflection on the theme of motion.
Architectural representation is not equipped to capture motion. The exhibition design thus supplemented conventional architectural models, drawings and photographs with time-based media: newly-commissioned kinetic models, full scale mock-ups, experimental prototypes, and video installations.
The exhibition features twenty six projects, organized into four sections in MAXXI’s KME Gallery: mobile, adaptive, operable and ecodynamic.
Mobile buildings can physically relocate, whether forced to move to avoid demolition or transported elsewhere by choice. No longer confined to a fixed place, mobile architecture embodies a fluidity that allows it to move together with its users, offering temporary space or shelter wherever needed, as it is the case with many of the projects on display including the Mobile Office (Mobile Büro, 1969), the inflatable office designed by Hans Hollein to provide a workspace that can be carried around; the concept of Instant City (1970) by the Archigram group; and the Ark Nova Concert Hall (2013), designed by Anish Kapoor in collaboration with Arata Isozaki, amongst others.
Archigram, Instant City, 1970
Adaptive buildings can reconfigure and absorb technological or programmatic changes wrought by economic or social developments. Cedric Price’s unrealized Fun Palace (1964) is represented by a newly commissioned physical model as well as a silhouette animation created by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. This section also features a newly commissioned model of the Nakagin Capsule Tower (1970) by Kisho Kurokawa, as well as an original capsule on display in Alighiero Boetti Square. Other projects on display include The Shed (2019) by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, as well as Prada Transformer (2009) by OMA, and the project for the Italian Pavilion at the International Exhibition – EXPO 70 by Maurizio Sacripanti.
Operable buildings function like machines, tuned to the requirements of their inhabitants to serve individual or collective purposes. Under the guidance of their occupants, responsive buildings adjust their surfaces to meet human needs. In this section, projects on display include the Montgomery County Rotary Jail (1882) by William Brown;and the Maison à Bordeaux (1998) by OMA.This section includes newly commissioned video portraits by Arian Lehner/Mies.TV in collaboration with DS+R, presenting The Central Social Institute (1937) in Prague designed by Ferdinand Ludwig, František Libra, and Jiří Kan and the Baťa's Skyscraper (1938) designed by Vladimír Karfík.
Angelo Invernizzi, Villa Girasole, 1935, Marcellise (Verona), Italia
While most buildings form an airtight seal against the elements, ecodynamic architecture integrates technologies to create supple interfaces between a building and its environment. This section demonstrates an architecture that embraces rather than resists the forces of nature, interacting with the climate to absorb sunlight, provide shade, or reinforce against the wind, engaging in a perpetual dialogue with the surrounding environment. Ecodynamic structures go beyond comfort standards, embodying a new model of sustainability, as seen in the Villa Girasole (1935) by Angelo Invernizzi; the Institut du Monde Arabe (1987) by Jean Nouvel, Gilbert Lèzenes, Pierre Soria, and Architecture Studio; and in the Project for the Shading of the Square in Medina (2010) by SL Rasch GmbH Special & Lightweight Structures.
Restless Architecture / Architettura instabile
25 October 2024—16 March 2025
MAXXI, Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo
Rome, Italy
Curator: Elizabeth Diller
Assistant Curator: Phillip Denny
DS+R: Ricardo Scofidio, David Allin, Bryce Suite, Daniel Landez, Alex Knezo, Charles Blanchard, Tom Collins
MAXXI
Director of Architecture and Contemporary Design: Lorenza Baroncelli
Senior Curator, Architecture, and Scientific Consultant: Pippo Ciorra
Artistic Director: Francesco Stocchi
Coordination: Alessandra Spagnoli
Curatorial and Research Assistance: Chiara Castiglia
Display Fabrication: Articolarte
Curtain Track System: Dari Automazioni
Curtains: KVADRAT
Exhibition Graphic Design: Etaoin Shrdlu Studio