“A Japanese Constellation: Toyo Ito, SANAA, and Beyond” is an exhibition on contemporary architecture recently hosted by the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
It provided an interesting perspective on what architecture could look like in the future and the role it could play to answer the urban development needs of our generation (reduced space availability, higher demographics, increased demands on functionality, and imperative environmental awareness).
The creative response is minimalist and simple, inspired by the Japanese origins of the group of architects behind it. It is defined by the versatility and beautiful integration of man-built constructs with their wider environment, a feature best expressed through their modular form. Architectural parameters flex in order to best respond to the functionality that spaces need to meet. This is a departure from existing built environments, where space is very often designed for a unique, fragmented and very specific purpose leading to compartmentalisation, a flurry of constructs and waste.
The design is airy, fluid and transitional. It lives harmoniously with its surroundings, incorporates them or becomes a part of them further suggesting ideas of symbiosis. Architecture is the sum of its parts, which can exist independently or as an extension of one another.
The concept advocates communities while acknowledging individual needs. This may be suggestive of the fact we each have a part to play to make it work.
Installation views at the following link.
Irina Writes 