9 + 1 Ways of Being Political: 50 Years of Political Stances in Architecture and Urban Design.

During the second half of the past century, we can notice how Architecture showed its political potential, responding actively to attitudes, problems and evolving conditions of urban society. This is what the exhibition “9 + 1 Ways of Being Political: 50 Years of Political Stances in Architecture and Urban Design” is about. Presented at the Museum of Modern Art, NYC, it runs until March 25th 2013 in the Architecture and Design Galleries, third floor. A chronological path leads visitors to discover the 9 ways plus 1 through which politic attitude had interfered with architects’ and city planners’ design proposals. The exhibition is organized by Pedro Gadanho, Curator and Margot Weller, Curatorial Assistant and it presents a number of institutional critiques putting architectural stances in dialogue with the works of other urban practitioners such ad artists, photographers and designers.

The link between architecture and politics is not really a new topic if we think about how relevant the political potential of architecture was for the avant-gardes in the early 20th century. Yet from ’60 till today this connection is still true by means of social and political engagement as an assertion of the social relevance that architecture has.

The exhibition is divided into 9 sections (plus a special performance piece by Andrés Jaque Arquitectos) and guests have the chance to tear out and keep small poster that sum up like small manifestos each one of the presented themes, for free.

1.Radical Stances: 1961-1973

Urban life utopias, new programs and forms of technology to deal with rapid cities changes (i.e. Archigram in UK and Archizoom in Italy);

2. Fiction & Dystopia: 1963-1978

Reactions to the failure of utopia and political ideals drifted towards fiction, made-up scenarios and actual dystopias (i.e. Aldo Rossi, Rem Koolhaas, Bernard Tschumi, Superstudio); 

The Tower (The Fall) (1980) by Bernard Tschumi

Utopie Dynamit (1976) by Gunter Rambow

3. Deconstruction: 1975-1999 

Architectural experimentation about how architects should address reality and when deconstructivism is out of innovations, the political promise of deconstruction and destabilization of the norm remains (i.e. Thomas Maine Metamorphosis); 

4. Consuming Brandscapes: 1969-2004 

Influence that branding has on architects’ designs of urban landscapes and the related critical views on that (i.e. Skidmore, Owings & Merril National Commercial Bank); 

5. Performing Public Space: 1978-2011

Influence of architecture on public spaces, place of social gathering, artistic performances and historically set for political propaganda (i.e. Vito Acconci, Will Alsop masterplan per Bradford, West8); 

6. Iconoclasm & Institutional Critique: 1964-2003

Strategies employed by architects to disturb the acceptance of a given establishment with a provocative architecture used as political weapon (i.e. Hans Holleins, Diller+Scofidio); 

7. Enacting Transparency: 1967-2011

Transparency, literal and symbolic: use of glass in the post modern architecture. Private internal spaces become exposed, synonymous with social transparency. Using translucent materials and technologies such as screen-printing and visual layering, architects are able to convey messages through surfaces, traces of a political script (i.e. Jean Nouvel Cartier Foundation – Paris);

8. Occupying Social Borders: 1974-2011

Architectural boundaries and social borders: design strategies and community participation for extreme problems in dangerous places. Social housing and bottom-up design strategies are a precious political tool to revitalize social deprived urban areas and reinvent the sense of community and gathering (i.e. Àlvaro Siza SAAL); 

9. Interrogating Shelter: 1971-2003 + Politics of the Domestic: 2002–2011

The ultimate part of the exhibition is dedicated to the real core of architecture and social behaving: the dwelling. Attention is given to the main changes of habits regarding house living over the past forty years and the highly acclaimed performance IKEA Disobedients by the Spanish architect Andrés Jaque, recently acquired by MoMA, offered the chance to reflect on the cultural impact that IKEA ideology “ready to assemble and lowest prices” is being having on dwelling culture. In a setting buildings with Ikea components, residents from Long Island City protest against the imposition of a single lifestyle and use their homes to promote activities that engage their respective communities. This video is clearly provocative, yet it opens a no such obvious question to reflect on: how the house components standardization can be really customize and truly express an intimate domesticity?

My spontaneous reaction after seeing the exhibition has been wondering about how architecture can convey society needs, thoughts and intentions. Thus architecture gives policy a shape and yet it is “politic” because it is “social” too, they could definitively be synonyms.