Small Scale, Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement

The exhibition about how to make architecture more than just buildings is about to finish at Museum of Modern Art in New York.

One of the projects is the Metro Cables from a slum area in Carcas, Venezuela to other parts of town, a project very similar to what happened in Medillin, Colombia. Klumpner and Alfredo Brillembourg, architects of the project from Urban Think Tank recieved the Ralph Erskine Award in Stockholm, for their innovation in architecture and urban design with regard to social, ecological and aesthetic aspects.

Other projects showed at the exhibition are; a small primary school of Gando, Burkina Faso; Quinta Monroy Housing in Iquique, Chile; Innercity arts in Los Angeles; a Handmade School in Rudrapur, Bangladesh; the running project of Casa Familiar: Living Rooms at the Border and Senior Housing with Childcare in San Ysidro, California; Housing for fishermen in Tyre, Lebanon, the $20K House VIII (Dave's House) from Newbern, Alabama; Manguinhos Complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Transformation of Tour Bois-le-Prêtre in Paris, France and Red Location Museum of Struggle in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. See all projets at exhibition page.



Beyond the exhibition (from MoMas' homepage): Internet-based architecture communities such as the The 1%, urbaninform, and Open Architecture Network are forums for the dissemination and development of knowledge, expertise, and innovation among architects and other contributors. Open-source sharing—wherein concepts, proposals, and sometimes architectural plans and drawings (for built and unbuilt structures) are made freely available—is a common feature of these networks and a catalyst for the actualization of projects or the recycling or improvement of ideas. This in turn enables architects to respond efficiently to the needs of underserved communities. While their methods and results are varied, each of these three networks is founded on the belief that architecture and architects have a social responsibility that can be advanced and facilitated by the Internet.


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