Installations: The Latest Architecture and News

Ephemeral architectures, characterized by their temporary and flexible nature, have emerged as powerful tools for revitalizing urban spaces and fostering architectural creativity. These transient installations transform public areas, engaging communities, and prompting reflections on the potential futures of our cities. By temporarily transforming environments, ephemeral architectures encourage both architects and the public to reimagine the possibilities of urban living. This dynamic interplay, between the temporary and the permanent, challenges traditional architectural practices and opens up new avenues for sustainable and inclusive urban development.

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The city of Barcelona and the region are preparing to host Manifesta, the European nomadic biennial of art, architecture, and urbanism, which will celebrate its 15th edition on September 8, 2024. The event will take place in twelve cities over twelve weeks, where an extensive list of participants will materialize projects aimed at reimagining the future through art and architecture.

The first edition of Manifesta took place in Rotterdam in 1996. Over its 14 previous editions across 25 years, it has visited various European cities such as Luxembourg, Ljubljana, Frankfurt, San Sebastián, Trentino-South Tyrol, Murcia, Genk, Saint Petersburg, Zurich, Palermo, Marseille, and Pristina. One of the main pillars of Manifesta is based on critical urban research, promoting the construction of communities and cultural programs with a local identity that act as agents of change. While the nomadic character is a hallmark of the event, each city works with local artistic communities, citizens, and organizations to carry out projects that address issues inherent to the location.

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The Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers is an annual portfolio competition for early-career practitioners in North America. Established in 1981, the competition is entered around a yearly theme. This year, the 2024 Young Architects + Designers Committee proposed the theme “Dirty,” prompting designers to “look beyond their presentations of professionalism, respectability, and expertise” and reject the sanitized ways of working.

The original work of the six winners of the 2024 League Prize for Young Architects + Designers is now on view in an online exhibition. The installations created for this occasion showcase the wide variety of responses and interpretations of the overarching theme. The projects presented online and in some instances also locally on-site, challenge traditional architectural practices and offer an immersive introduction to the works of the winners. In addition to the installations, a diverse program of lectures has been scheduled to develop the theme further.

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Noemí Blager and Tapio Snellman are presenting a new video installation at the Architectural Association (AA) in London. The exhibition titled “A Lot with Little” set out to explore and showcase how architects can employ a more economical use of resources to create architectural works that are both sensible and sustainable. Previously shown in Germany, Switzerland, China, Czechia, the US, and the Venice Architecture Biennale, this London debut aims to highlight the global relevance of resource-efficient architectural practices. The exhibition is now on view at the AA School in London from April 26, until May 30, 2024.

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From April 25th to May 1st, 2024, in the Spanish city of Logroño, Concéntrico prepares for its 10^th anniversary edition. Envisioned as a contemplation of changing urban environments and an opportunity to share insights about these processes, this year’s International Festival of Architecture and Design incorporates new formats to engage a wider audience and explore time as a catalyst for change in urban and social design. The festival expands its program, featuring 21 installations by designers of 20 different nationalities, in addition to several other initiatives and explorations.

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As Milan Design Week begins, the Italian city is transformed into the grounds of one of the most expansive celebrations of global design, with its streets and venues brimming with cultural events, exhibitions, large-scale installations, talks and conferences. At Rho Fiera, the 62nd edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano brings together designers, architects, producers and leading figures of the design world, featuring over 1950 exhibitors which will remain open for the next 6 days. Additionally, across the city Fuorisalone opens up locations across the city with an engaging and varied cultural program.

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The annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has opened in Los Angeles with a selection of large-scale art installations curated by the Public Art Company in collaboration with Paul Clemente. The festival grounds at the Empire Polo Field have been reimagined with three newly commissioned works by a diverse group of artists, architects, and designers. Challenging conventional norms and experimenting with new technologies and artistic expressions, these temporary interventions are an invitation for playful exploration, connection, and contemplation, enhancing the festivalgoer’s experience.

According to Raffi Lehrer, the founder of Public Art Company and Curatorial Advisor for Coachella's art program, the aim of these installations is not to simply adorn the festival but “to create environments that provoke thought, evoke emotion, and encourage a shared experience among all attendees.” By collaborating with artists from different fields, the music festival gains a new perspective, opening up its grounds for experimentation and play.

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Milan Design Week stands as one of the most important events in the global design calendar, serving not only as a showcase of innovation but also as a catalyst for critical discourse and creative exchange. This year, the event unfolds with a multitude of exhibitions, installations, and talks happening throughout Milano during the week of April 15-21, 2024. By bringing together diverse voices, perspectives, and talents, Milan Design Week becomes relevant for architects and serves as a nexus for interdisciplinary dialogue. To help you better navigate the plethora of events, conferences, and installations, this article highlights the main venues hosting activities revenant for architects and designers, from the expansive trade fair Salone del Mobile in Rho Fiera to design districts across the city and unexpected locations hidden in Palazzo courtyards or reimagined industrial heritage sites.

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Running from November 11, 2023 until March 10, 2024, The Sharjah Architecture Triennial celebrates innovations in the built environment, particularly in the global south. The main goal of the display is to draw attention to sustainable, accessible, and equitable futures while highlighting the value of alternative responses to resource constraints. As the event draws to a close, ArchDaily explores 10 architectural installations that respond to the overarching theme through various mediums.

Curated by Tosin Oshinowo under the theme “The beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability,” the triennial has contributions from 29 architects and studios across 25 countries. From 51-1 Arquitectos transforming an unapproachable place into a dynamic play space featuring popular board games from various regions to Al Borde redefining a space with a custom-designed shading structure made with natural materials, the Sharjah Architecture Triennial presents a diverse array of architectural interventions. WaiWai's showcase spotlights three instances of modern architecture in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, highlighting their significant evolution. DAAR's "Concrete Tent" combines elements of a mobile tent and concrete house, exploring the concept of "permanent temporariness.” These installations offer innovative perspectives on adaptability, sustainability, and cultural significance within the architectural landscape.

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Winter Stations, now in its 10th year, has unveiled the winning designs selected from a pool of hundreds of submissions worldwide. Following an international design competition launched in November 2023, designers, artists, and architects contributed with bold proposals to reimagine the lifeguard stations along Toronto’s east-end beaches for the winter. Launched by RAW Design, Ferris + Associates, and Curio in 2014, the event aims to gather an international design and art community to join in this playful exercise of rethinking public spaces through bold temporary interventions. The winning designs were realized with the support of Anex Works, a Toronto-based fabrication group, and will be on display until the end of March.

For its 10th anniversary edition, the chosen theme for this year is “Resonance,” hoping to challenge designers to reflect on the artistic legacy and enduring impact of the Winter Stations and to embark on a journey of reinvention and reimagination. The projects were invited to recreate and reinvent installations from previous Winer Stations editions, offering moments of contemplation and remembrance. The event also continues the tradition of the Lifeguard Sands, inviting designers to incorporate them into their designs without structurally altering the stands in any manner.

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Now in its 10^th edition, Concéntrico, the international festival of architecture and design in Logroño, has announced the winners of the open calls for urban interventions. Responding to the call to ‘Celebrate the City,’ the winning proposals will be temporarily built in Plaza Escuelas Trevijano, in Viña Lanciano of Bodegas LAN, and in Paseo del Espolón in the Spanish town of Logroño. The Festival welcomes visitors between April 25 and May 1, 2024, to explore the city through installations, exhibitions meetings, and performances.

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Whether temporary or permanent, pavilions and urban installations represent an opportunity for architects to experiment with different shapes, materials, and textures. The results are often theatrical, welcoming visitors to new types of spaces, and blending the exterior and the interior. Pavilions are often commissioned for events, exhibitions, or cultural programs, offering opportunities to explore innovative materials, construction techniques, and spatial concepts on a smaller scale. Some events, like the Serpentine in UK or the MPavilion in Australia, propose a yearly reimagining of their structures, offering opportunities for established and emerging architects to express themselves. Others, like the Venice Biennale, reuse the permanent garden pavilions, but invite curators to prepare exhibitions to reimagine them for every edition.

This week's curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights projects submitted by the ArchDaily community showcasing pavilions and urban installations proposed in various environments, from urban plazas to agricultural fields or even airports. In Frankfurt, a translucent foliage-covered structure aims to honor the memory of a lost synagogue. in Ukraine, a visitor center reimagines an industrial landscape into an attractive meeting place, while a decentralized installation in the Netherlands hopes to bring communities together by collecting and sharing stories on scents. Whether temporary or permanent, these projects aim to provoke reflection and contemplation, while addressing larger themes of sustainability, resource availability, or the role of social spaces.

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Music Festivals can provide artists, designers, and architects a platform to present their work to large crowds. The sheer scale of these installations, the space for artistic exploration, and the vast audience they reach can give designers the opportunity of a lifetime to showcase their ideas. Through scale, color, imagery, and lighting, these installations create lasting impressions on the people who attend these events and those who see them through news coverage or social media. Some themes explored this year included reframing familiar things in unfamiliar ways, large-scale abstract geometries at the intersection of technology and art, and the use of innovative new materials.

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The Sharjah Architecture Triennial opened on November 11, 2023, with the theme of The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability. Curated by Tosin Oshinowo, the program focused heavily on the Global South and alternative models the region can provide in the future. As part of the Triennial, the “3-Minute Corridor” pavilion by WallMakers explores our waste on a global scale, exploring methodologies of material reuse.

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“Self Similar,” a sprawling and immersive land artwork created by Jim Denevan has just debuted in Abu Dhabi, UAE as part of a more extensive city-wide exhibition. Curated by Reem Fadda, Director of Abu Dhabi Culture Programming and Cultural Foundation, along with Alia Zaal Lootah, this city-wide exhibition showcases 35 distinct site-specific artworks by both local and international artists. Scheduled to run until January 30, 2024, the exhibit is a diverse collection aiming to engage audiences.

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Happening between November 7 and 12, Dubai Design Week 2023 brought together over 500 designers, architects, and creative practitioners to explore the relationship between traditional practices and emerging technologies in an effort to create more environmental sustainability and design-led social impact solutions. As one of the most important cultural events in the Middle East, the festival brings forward a wide offering of installations, artworks, and immersive experiences, all exploring important topics of eco-friendly design.

This year’s interventions and installations drew inspiration from the region’s natural ecosystems as well as local traditions and craftsmanship while merging these practices with innovative technologies, biomaterial explorations, and reimagined ways of practicing. Across the interventions, a recurring motif emerges, that of celebrating Middle Eastern heritage and engaging productively with vernacular practices.

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From October 12 to 18, NYCxDESIGN presents the Design Pavilion, a prominent public architectural exhibition in New York. Occurring during Archtober, a month-long celebration of architecture, this year's Design Pavilion highlights three imaginative installations spanning materiality, sustainability, social justice, and more.

Two tangible installations have been designed to transform Gansevoort Plaza in the Meatpacking District into urban retreats, while the third exhibit offers a digital art projection at the World Trade Center Podium, addressing the nation's history of enslavement and the quest for healing. Along with the pavilions, the Design Talks program highlights and opens discussions on relevant issues of the profession, centering around themes of sustainability, repurposing, and waste reduction.

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For the opening of CAB 5, the 5th edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) presented an eco-friendly alternative to traditional concrete. Named the “Bio-Block Spiral,” the installation is at The Mews in Fulton Market in Chicago. The creation was developed with Prometheus Material, a materials company that provides sustainable building materials for a carbon-negative future.