'Essentials. David Chipperfield Architects. 1985-2015' exhibition can be currently visited at the ICO Museum until January 24th of 2016.
"The preparation of this exhibition has helped me try to articulate my main concern with the social role of architecture. In recent times it has become a very isolated profession that slowly seems to be losing its connection with society. Personally, I believe that it is important to try to explain the role of architecture to the general public. "
There lies a great difficulty in making a exhibition on architecture, as is a reality that must be personally experienced for a complete understanding. In this case models have been chosen as the tools that allow to comprehend the project in three dimensions. The first hall of the exhibition contains a video installation and a series of photographs and models of the Neues Museum. The upper level the exhibition focuses on models, both intermediate and final of various projects of David Chipperfield practice.
"In the practice we work with cardboard models at a scale that varies from 1:30 to 1:50, as many of which you can see here, since they allow us to understand both the inside and outside of the building, their scale and the relationships between them."
Regarding his possible influence on the also British architects Richard Rogers and Norman Foster, Chipperfield said that their architectures "are formally completely different". He thinks about his time working with them as a formative stage, which coincided with the moment when these studies were primarily concerned about the relationship between architecture and society. Although, as David Chipperfield claims, now these ideas in these studies sometimes hide behind a more "exhibitionist" architecture, their practical foundation still remains.
On working with computer models opposing to the work with physical models, Chipperfield believes that the most conceptual phases of the project and especially in competitions, these computer models offer something of an illusion of architecture and a more focused image, rahter than the ideas of the conceptual part of the project. Moreover, computers allow fluidity and speed when making changes that should make the architect consider whether the outcome is really the final result or is more a matter of the time it has had to do the project, and the project would continue changing.
The architect of calm and serene lines firmly believes that the purpose of architecture should be to create something fundamentally static and enduring, and that the result of the design process must be the result of an intense relation between hand and mind. Touchable models allow to develop this relation in a deeper way. The reflection that could be hinted in the words of David Chipperfield was that perhaps we have not yet found the best way to work with computer models and renderings.
CREDITS.-
Curator.- Fulvio Irace.
Where.- ICO Museum, 3 Zorrilla St., Madrid.
When.- 30 september 2015 to 24 january 2016.
Opening hours.- Tuesday to sunday from 11.00 to 20.00 horas. Holidays from 10.00 to 14.00.
Entrance.- Free.
