Architecture as a “social healing agent”: I’m totally visiting MOMA again

I arrived at MOMA an hour ahead of schedule two Mondays again, and decided to read all the posters in the lobby which described the exhibits that were currently showing.

So how did I not catch the news about the “small scale, big change” architecture show at MOMA, which opened the day before we visited?

This show focuses on eleven projects around the world. Not only are these projects modest on the budget, but they also have positive social impacts. There have been complaints throughout the years that architecture focuses too much on aesthetics and not enough on how it affects the citizens, and this project gives a great response to that. Organized by Andres Lepik and Margot Weller, this exhibition strives to show that it is possible to create “work that is both socially uplifting and architecturally compelling.”

It starts with a picture taken in Burkina Faso, an African village. A practically empty scene with a mud-brick primary school designed by Diébédo Francis Kéré. Then to the left, a picture of Michael Maltzan’s Inner-City Arts Complex, which houses a children’s arts program. It stands white and gleaming amongst a greyscale street in Skid Row Los Angeles.

The point? That even from an obscure village in Africa to a town that’s right outside the heart of L.A., architecture can socially improve ANYWHERE. It’s not restritcted to developing nations.

School in Burkina Faso

Children's Housing Center in Skid Row, Los Angeles

Another interesting project is the cut-and-paste approach that Frédéric Druot, Anne Lacaton and Jean Philippe Vassalused to renovate a low income apartment tower in Paris. Instead of demolishing the building (which would disrupt those who live around it), they simply use the building itself so change it. They rip off walls, remove interior walls for more space, one floor at a time. A much better method than starting from scratch with new expensive building materials. Ripping off the walls is also symbolic; ripping off facades is a way of revealing the poor and their problems, not hiding them behind scenery.

I don’t think I managed to properly portray just what makes this project so fabulous. But it saves time, money, and the environment. It helps society while still being aesthetically pleasing. It’s improving your community without the loud drilling outside your window. the whole idea is really well thought out, and positive overall. It’s a great response to all the problems we face today. Reusing old materials, helping the less fortunate, exposing that a less rich and magnificent side of society exists.

I think the exhibit itself is just pictures of the project. I’m not sure what else there is to expect, and MOMA’s website suggests that that’s all there is to it.

I’m not sure if the thought of a group of us returning to MOMA to see some pictures is a great idea, but I’ll definitely go and post my thoughts.

Click here for enlightenment. 🙂 (The NY Times Article where I learned about this)

But regardless of the exhibition itself, you can’t deny the figurative and literal beauty to this idea. It’s plans and projects like this that restore my faith in humanity.