On the heels of the summer blockbuster BIG Maze, which attracted more than 50,000 visitors, BIG returns to the National Building Museum with a behind-the-scenes look at the studio’s creative process. The exhibition, Hot to Cold: An Odyssey of Architectural Adaptation, travels from the hottest to the coldest parts of our planet and explores how BIG´s designs are shaped by their cultural and climatic contexts. More than 60 architectural models, mock-ups and prototypes are suspended at the second-floor balconies of the museum’s historic Great Hall, turning the architecture of the National Building Museum into the architecture of the exhibition.
As the visitors move through the exhibition, they learn about the harsh demands of climatic extremes, where architecture becomes more about shading from the heat or sheltering from the cold. The milder or more temperate environments often leave more room for other factors, such as culture, program, politics and legislation to shape the buildings.
"Architecture never happens in the clinical conditions of a lab. It is always responding to a series of existing conditions – the context, the culture, the landscape, the climate. Our climate is the one thing we can’t escape – the one condition we always have to respond to. Hot to Cold is conceived as a colorful exploration of how architecture evolves in response to its context and climate and as an artistic contemplation of how life in return reacts to the framework created by the architecture. I can’t imagine a greater venue than the National Building Museum for this journey, looking back at our work and massive transformation over the last six years from both sides of the Atlantic”, says Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner, BIG.
Hot to Cold encompasses 60 of BIG’s recent projects of which 20 are premiered for the first time, captured by Iwan Baan´s masterful photography. The exhibition also features films that describe life as it occurs within and around BIG’s buildings in a gallery on the museum’s second floor. Films by Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine, Kaspar Astrup Schroder, WAAITT and Squint/Opera document the life that emerges once the cranes have left and the buildings are complete. The accompanying catalog by Taschen is designed in collaboration with Grammy Award-winning graphic artist Stefan Sagmeister and is available now at the National Building Museum Shop in-person and online, as well as for preorder on Amazon.
Curator Susan Piedmont-Palladino says that BIG extended its singular design sensibility to the creation of this exhibition: “What’s so special about Hot to Cold is that BIG has perceived the National Building Museum more as a site for a project, rather than as a venue for an exhibition. That means that the sunlight, the sounds, and the sights of the Great Hall will all be part of the context of the display, just as they are for a building in the city. BIG has a very distinctive voice, and our visitors will have a very direct experience, as if the architect is talking, telling stories directly to them.”
Related Stories
| Jun 8, 2012
Allsteel names Kris Yates to head architectural products group
Yates is responsible for the start up, launch and ongoing sales and marketing of Allsteel’s new Beyond movable walls.
| Jun 8, 2012
Chestnut Hill College dedicates Jack and Rosemary Murphy Gulati complex
Casaccio Yu Architects designed the 11,300-sf fitness and social complex.
| Jun 7, 2012
Waterline exhibition displays visions for re-thinking the Chicago River
The designs of Waterline showcase why the Chicago River should once again be considered the city’s most important asset and sets the stage for increased awareness, education and reinvention of the River.
| Jun 7, 2012
WDMA and FMA to affiliate and integrate operations
Over the coming months both organizations will begin the process of formalizing the details of the agreement for final approval by both organizations, with the formal change expected to take effect in January 2015.
| Jun 7, 2012
Craig joins Cannon Design as associate principal
Craig will work closely with the firm's Corporate/Commercial Interiors leadership to help facilitate initiatives that strengthen awareness around workplace innovation and offer counsel on strategic workplace decisions.
| Jun 7, 2012
Stantec publishes 2011 corporate Sustainability Report
Stantec's fifth annual Sustainability Report was prepared in accordance with the internationally recognized G3.1 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, developed by the Global Reporting Initiative.
| Jun 6, 2012
KPF designs tower for Yongsan IBD
The master plan, created by Studio Daniel Libeskind, is a dynamic urban environment containing contributions from 19 different architects practicing in diverse locations around the globe.
| Jun 6, 2012
SOM urges Chicago tenants to partner with landlords to cut energy use
Tenants can exceed building energy challenge targets recently announced by Mayor Emanuel.
| Jun 6, 2012
KLMK Group awarded contract with Parkland Health & Hospital System in Texas
KLMK will also provide planning guidance in all aspects of the project related to facility activation.
| Jun 5, 2012
Cannon Design joins forces with Peter Ellis New Cities
Peter Ellis will now lead Cannon Design's urban planning and city design practice in collaboration with the firm's executive leadership.