The exhibition at MAXXI, born out of the collaboration with the Power Station of Art in Shanghai presents the intense and conflictual relationship between the Utopian dimension of design and its realization through the work of Yona Friedman.
The theory of Mobile Architecture, conceived by Friedman in 1950s, called into question the Modernist vision whereby the inhabitants are required to adapt to a building and not the reverse: through sketches, models and animations the exhibition recounts the development of this theory while at the same time exploring the theme of improvisation as a “possibility” in the world of architecture, as theorised by Friedman from the 1970s.
The theory of Mobile Architecture, conceived by Friedman in 1950s, called into question the Modernist vision whereby the inhabitants are required to adapt to a building and not the reverse: through sketches, models and animations the exhibition recounts the development of this theory while at the same time exploring the theme of improvisation as a “possibility” in the world of architecture, as theorised by Friedman from the 1970s.
On the occasion of the MAXXI exhibition, Yona Friedman’s famous Ville Spatiale reaches Rome, and brings a fragment, which interacts with the unpublished graphic elaborations hanging on the walls, into the museum. But there is more: the exhibition includes unpublished drawings dating back to the 60s, his mobile and “improvised” structures and the instructions required to build them, photomontages, videos and a collection of animation films. Given that Friedman believes that contemporary museums should exhibit what really matters for people, he has created a temporary Street Museum containing objects that belong to citizens, which have been collected thanks to an open call by the museum.
Architecture Mobile
The Architecture Mobile (Mobile Architecture) manifesto largely affected the urban planning of the late Twentieth Century, and gave rise to a new ideology by deeply influencing the architectural planning of more recent experimental groups, especially the Metabolist Movement in Japan, the Archigram group in the United Kingdom and others.
Friedman studied how to develop an architectural structure able to respond to the heterogeneity of the social system, namely the awareness citizens are to have of their spatial needs. Such a vision, which attaches the greatest importance to those who use architectural objects instead of architects, leads to the need for an easily movable mobile architecture to suit the spatial needs of inhabitants. Indeed, common people, who are at the core of the decision-making process despite not being specialised, have the freedom to make their own architecture come true.
The Ville Spatiale (Spatial Town), namely a project based on shapes and structures which can allegedly be modified an infinite number of times, is the best implementation of the Mobile Architecture model.
Space Frames
The use of Irregular Structures is one of the founding ideas of Mobile Architecture. Based on a causal configuration, Irregular Structures are participative by nature, and can be learnt autonomously following a personal experimentation.
Their aims is to enable users to construct buildings by following simple instructions. Irregular Structures include: GRIBOUILLI (Scribbles) are improvised three-dimensional structures (Space Frames) made from tangled metal wires, the high stability of which is ensured by intersection points; CRUMPLED SHEETS are improvised structures.
Their underlying principle includes the use of a mouldable foil which can be crumpled according to personal needs; THE ROD NET is a freely arranged reticular spatial structure composed of rigid rods linked by use of joints, creating a usable space; SPACE CHAINS: structures made up of rings assembled in different ways.
Ville Spatiale
The Ville Spatiale (Spatial Town) is the core concept of Friedman’s work. The project consists in an elevated grid which contains the main ducts and area corridors (streets), inside which single homes following principles that ensure natural light, privacy, and accessibility are inserted.
The ground under the Spatial Town stays practically intact. The Spatial Town is an unpredictable invention where the actual architects are its inhabitants and users. For the MAXXI exhibition has been conceinved a large-scale model of the Ville Spatiale that interacts with unpublished drawings and photomontages by the architect, which depict his vision of Rome and the MAXXI and visually represent his method.
Boulevard Garibaldi
Like a small cell in the Spatial Town, Friedman’s house in the 15th arrondissement of Paris at the beginning of the 1960s is overwhelmed by manuscripts, models, toys and all kinds of materials collected by himself. The exhibition contains more than hundred drawings, photos and models which map out the main phases of his creative process. From the cover of the first edition of Architecture Mobile, through visions of the Ville Spatiale up to the Cylindrical Shelters and Cabins for the Sahara projects. In the exhibition, a detailed study is dedicated to the Museum of Simple Tecnology and an extremely relevant and imaginative refugee camp project.
Street Museum
2004 saw Friedman launch his Street Museum project, which invited citizens to display objects of significance to them in a very flexible structure. Street Museum typologies vary in accordance with the context and the Street Museum at the MAXXI contains objects collected through an open call organised by the museum in May 2017.
