Architecture-wise Antwerp is known for the house where Rubens lived in the 1600s, a sumptuous property that showcases ten of his works and provides visitors with an insight into Flemish living in the 17th century. Yet, at the moment, the Belgian city is also known for hosting an intriguing architectural exhibition.
"Drawing Ambience: Alvin Boyarsky and The Architectural Association" opened last Tuesday at the Flanders Architecture Institute, deSingel (until 14th January 2018). The exhibition – that has been on tour in the USA and Berlin, before arriving in Belgium – features a series of drawings acquired by the late architect and mentor Alvin Boyarsky (1928-1990), long-term chairman of the Architectural Association School of Architecture (AA) in London.
Born in Canada, Boyarsky studied architecture at the McGill University in Montreal. After completing the postgraduate programme at Cornell University, he taught at the University of Oregon, the Bartlett School of Architecture, as well as the University of Illinois at Chicago.
While leading the AA from 1971 to 1990 Boyarsky promoted an international outlook and revolutionised the school's programme, inviting to teach professors who turned in more recent years into influential architects and writers, and putting emphasis on architectural drawing. The latter became an integral part of the school, prompting students to find new approaches to the architectural practice.
According to Boyarsky drawing wasn't just a representational tool, but a form of architecture in its own right and the works on display definitely prove his point.
Divided into sections, "Drawing Ambience" features drawings as well as a small selection of archival documents. Showcased in a chronological order, the display features previous AA teachers and students such as Nigel Coates, David Greene, Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Daniel Libeskind, Bernard Tschumi and Peter Wilson, works by international studios and architects including Frank Gehry, Superstudio, and Coop Himmelb(l)au, and by artists Mary Miss and Eduardo Paolozzi.
Some of the drawings show imaginary and metaphysical places, others focus on more realistic buildings. There is therefore a wide range of styles and techniques in this event, with drawings traced with pen, ink and graphite, screen-printed works, etchings and collages.
There's mechanical precision in Jeremie Frank's "The Macrophone" (1981), minimalism in Franco Raggi's "Untitled" (1977), and Suprematism in Zoe Zenghelis's conceptual plan Sixteen Villas on the Island of Antiparos (1983), while Eduardo Paolozzi introduces us to a Pop world, David Greene to a technological utopia and Superstudio to imaginary Supersurfaces.
While the architects and architectural practices involved represent key figures in the history of contemporary architecture, they also offer visitors the chance to take a journey through different projects.
Bsides, the drawings remind visitors that architecture is a dichotomic practice with a core discrepancy between the visionary and imaginary works of architects and the reality, often riddled with funding problems and bureaucracy: Superstudio invite us to go beyond architecture and step into a metaphysical world, while Libeskind's works hint at projects that he actually built later on in his life, including his prefabricated homes, and Hadid's swirls and squiggles introduce her trademark dynamic shapes and silhouettes, her "Sperm Table" (1988) representing indeed the architect's first ever built project – five pieces of furniture designed for a studio apartment located in London.
One thing reunites the drawings on display, though, all of them show a strong will to experiment and the range of ideas explored is extremely inspiring.
Computer-aided design is now the norm, but "Drawing Ambience" asks visitors to stop, look at the artworks on display and consider the power of drawing by hand and wonder what may be in ten or fifteen years the consequences of abandoning this practice. Those ones interested in finding answers to this question or in getting to know better Boyarsky's collection should also check out the insightful catalogue that accompanies the show.
Image credits for this post
All works in this post are part of the Collection of the Alvin Boyarsky Archive.
Jeremie Frank, "The Macrophone", 1981.
Nigel Coates, "Ski Station", 1982.
Superstudio, "New-New York", 1969.
Alex Wall, Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), "The Pleasure of Architecture," 1983. Poster based on competition drawings for Parc de la Villette, Paris, 1982-83.
Coop Himmelblau, "Super Spaces," c. 1969.
Bernard Tschumi, "#4 K Series," 1985. Study for "La Case Vide: La Villette," Folio VIII, 1985.
Franco Purini, "La terra desolata" (The Waste Land), 1984.
Daniel Libeskind, "The Garden", 1979.
Office for Metropolitan Architecture, Site Plan for Parc de la Villette, Paris, 1983.
Zaha Hadid, "Sperm Table", 1984. © Zaha Hadid.
Zaha Hadid, "The World (89 Degrees)," 1988.
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