Main Galleries
Royal Academy of Arts, London
25 January – 6 April 2014

I was the curator of the exhibition Sensing Spaces that set out to evoke the experience and power of
architecture within a traditional gallery environment. I worked with seven architects from around
the world to create an exhibition that would highlight the sensation of inhabiting built space and
awaken or recalibrate visitors’ awareness of spaces beyond the gallery walls. The architects, Grafton
Architects (Ireland), Diébédo Francis Kéré (Burkina Faso and Germany), Kengo Kuma (Japan), Li
Xiaodong (China), Pezo von Ellrichshausen (Chile) and Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura
(Portugal) created unique spaces for visitors to experience. Their installations highlighted different
aspects of architecture – from the manipulation of light, mass and structure to the transformations
brought about by use, movement and interaction.

★★★★ – The Telegraph
“Inspiring” – London Evening Standard
“Epic” – Wired
“Enchanting” – The Independent
“Era-defining” – Architects’ Journal
“One of the most exciting exhibitions of 2014” – Time Out

Related Articles

• “Sensing Spaces: A Creative Experiment” essay in “Sensing Architecture: Essays on the Nature of Architectural Experience”, Royal Academy of Arts (2017)
• Time Out: Curator Tour Sensing Spaces Royal Academy of Arts 2014
• The Architects Journal: Sensing Spaces Interview 2014
• ‘Creating Sensing Spaces,’ Lecture at Royal Academy (2014)
• “Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined” – Exhibition catalogue (2014)
• A journey to the Pacific edge with Pezo von Ellrichshausen (2013)
• Sensing Spaces: Meet the architects: Sofia von Ellrichshausen and Mauricio Pezo 2013

Photo © James Harris