V&A small spaces

We are invited to participate in the Victoria & Albert exhibition 1:1 architects build small spaces with our concept Forever Forest / Endless Sea.

We're in London at the pre-première for the exhibition that will officially open 15 June and be on until 30 August.

20 selected architects from all over the world participate with concepts on the themes of: Cocoon / Womb, Dialogue / Collaboration, Escape / Retreat, Laboratory / Shed, Outside / Inside, Performance / Fiction, Playtime / Dreamspace, where the last one was ours to interpret.

This is (parts of) how curator Abraham Thomas described the exhibition in his invitation to us a year ago: At a time when the conception of architecture within the general public’s consciousness has come to be defined by large-scale, ambitious projects monopolised by a handful of internationally-focussed practices, this exhibition attempts to explore and celebrate a building strategy concerned with small-scale structures, singular design visions and a modesty of purpose.

Set amid the current economic and social climate which is rapidly developing in opposition to the recent trend for grandiose building schemes, this exhibition will explore a new agenda for design and construction which allows us to return to architecture as an ‘idea’, as a basic human need for shelter – a space for retreat and contemplation on a human scale. In the context of a cultural landscape ever more concerned with ‘appropriate design’, this exhibition aims to present examples of architecture pre-occupied with an aesthetic of quietness, combined with a renewed sense of function and instinctive purpose.

The architects will be encouraged to explore specific architectural and social typologies, each reflecting the intrinsic human need for modest, private spaces which can offer a vital refuge from everyday life. The exhibition will generate debate and discussion around the idea of creating personal space, and how we occupy this space both physically and emotionally. The structures will refer to historical and cultural precedents, whilst also reflecting contemporary examples of agile responses to such small-scale building strategies.