Architecture and Design in Focus

Your Guide to this Season's Shows | November - December 2022 |    Buildings inspired by metabolism. Surrealist objects. Lighting made from smartphones. We round up five of this season’s architecture and design shows from around the world. The scope of these exhibitions is wide-ranging and rich with innovative, forward-thinking ideas.   The Global Life of Design National Gallery of Victoria   Teacups, ostrich feathers and Indian muslin are amongst the 100 objects on display in this show which spans from the Middle Ages to the present day. “Art and design have always been shaped by the movement of people and resources,” says Tony Ellwood AM, Director of NGV. “This cross-collection exhibition reveals the influence of global trade and exchange on design traditions.” Dale Hardiman and Stephen Royce’s lighting design is made using repurposed smartphone screens.   Learn more » Objects of Desire Design Museum, London   The most recognisable Surrealist objects take everyday objects and manipulate them, putting them in unexpected combinations to bewilder and confuse. Design Museum uncovers how one of the 20th century’s most influential movements came to impact design – “questioning of the conventional and its commitment to exploring the mind, unconscious and mystical.” Objects include clothing garments, furniture, crockery and artworks from the 1920s to now.   Learn more » EDIBLE Museum of Architecture, Estonia   Food production makes up more than a third of global carbon emissions – 37% according to a 2021 study from University of Illinois. Taking metabolism as its starting point, EDIBLE explores how we might transition into a zero-carbon world through circularity in building design. The show looks at how natural processes – such as digestion or decay – might be integrated into architecture, from “the micro-scale of materials to the meso-scale of habitation – the Metabolic Home.”    Learn more » Horror in the Modernist Block Ikon, Birmingham   Modernist architects envisioned a better world. They were driven by a utopian desire to create a society enriched by technological innovation and improved housing. Yet there is something unavoidably creepy about the buildings they left behind: shadowy concrete walkways or looming grey tower blocks. This show explores the relationship between modernism and the horror genre in film and fiction, taking Brutalist Birmingham as a jumping off point. Learn more » Plastic: Remaking our World V&A Dundee   In 2022, scientists detected microplastics in human blood, a discovery that attests to how ubiquitous plastic has become. Since the 20th century, the material has been used to create everything from clothes to cars, footwear to furniture. This show uses an array of objects and displays to explore how – in the 150 years since its invention – this material has transformed our lives. V&A Dundee also looks into the future to show how, for the sake of the planet, we must adapt to a plasti-lite future. Learn more » Words: Rachel Segal Hamilton

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