Most architectural exhibitions – consisting of drawings, photographs and models – distance us from what we experience in direct contact with a building. Yet physical exploration is central to our understanding of architecture, absorbing its qualities through our bodies and senses. Sensing Spaces set out to evoke the experiential power and used architecture itself to communicate. I worked with seven architects who created installations, that together, recalibrated an awareness of inhabiting spaces within and beyond the gallery walls. Occupying 23,000 square feet of gallery the exhibition highlighted aspects of architecture – from the manipulation of light, mass and structure to the transformations brought about by use, movement and interaction.

It was conceived in a spirit of enquiry, begun through discussion with the architects and developed through the process of design. Each architect brought a particular sensibility, shaped by the places, cultures and times in which they work. They explored the potential of architecture, its relevance to people, the connections it evokes, and how these might be conveyed using architectural constructions within the Neoclassical galleries. I often liken the exhibition to a city, which gains its vitality and character from the ensemble as much as from its individual elements. And like a city, it is brought to life and tested by those who visited.

Architects:
Grafton Architects (Ireland)
Diébédo Francis Kéré (Burkina Faso and Germany)
Kengo Kuma (Japan)
Li Xiaodong (China)
Pezo von Ellrichshausen (Chile)
Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura (Portugal)  

Scenography by Shizuka Hariu of SHSH Architecture + Scenography

Exhibition film by Candida Richardson