An insight on architecture exhibitions

Exhibition Trunks is a proposal to enhance architecture exhibition practices and contents. It was first tested during the IX Iberoamerican Biennial in Rosario, Argentina (2014), and then applied to several locations and contents, as in Madrid, Spain (2019).

It challenges both conventional contents and displays, and arises from a very simple question: if the best way to learn about an architectural project is through printed media, then why an exhibition? What should the exhibition of a series of works of architecture, in a single place, for a fixed (and short) period of time, aim to contribute? What can make a visit to such an exhibition a memorable experience?

Collections

Exhibiting architectural works in a specific context allows them to be understood in a way which is different and unique. Comparing and contrasting with external or not directly related documents can provide unexpected interpretations. Large-format collections bring together the selected projects through different topics: geographies, techniques, economies and scales, users, languages and processes, scenes and systems, and provide a remarkable experience of both the architectural work and the process which made it possible.

Trunks

These collections are kept in trunks which travel from the original location, and open in different places to show their precious content. This group of trunks form a field which builds a specific space –at the same time generic and neutral– and favors the multiple interpretations that are offered by the exhibition of both the works and the documents which describe them.

‍