Grand Visions: The Prospects for Radical Change
The two decades of the 60s and 70s were emblematic of political and societal transformations. With the events of May 1968, anti-war protests and womenʼs liberation movement, this climate of unrest marked the emergence of the radical or ʻcounter-designʼ movement which questioned the rationalism and functionalism of modernity by proposing utopian ideas and manifestos that could reinvent cities and create a revolution in architecture. Grand Visions: The Prospects for Radical Change exhibit offers the chance to explore the projects of fifteen individuals and collectives from this period, half a century after their existence.
By crossing the disciplinary boundaries, these designers experimented with photomontage, film, graphics, literature, exhibition, installation, and performance. The retrospective turn has a panoramic view of the utopian designs not only focusing on Florentine radicals but including the works from British visionaries, Californian avant-gardes, Japanese metabolists, Viennese architects from the Austrian Utopian movement, and selected individuals such as Yona Friedman and Buckminster Fuller who had influenced the radical thinking of the time. Even though the utopian designs of these collectives were short-lived, the critical, conceptual, and visual characteristics of their work can still resonate with stagnation in todayʼs architectural thinking and socio-political problems of our time.
The opening of the exhibition will be on August 22, at 5:50 pm. The exhibition is showcasing original art pieces from Superstudio and UFO and will be open during the week days from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm.
Exhibition Curated by Taraneh Meshkani, Assistant Professor of Architecture and Urban Design
Research Assistants: Allison Huchko and Bridget Tipton