Living Architecture Systems
ADM Gallery, Nanyang Technological University
The exhibition Living Architecture Systems was presented at the Art, Design and Media (ADM) Gallery at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore from November 2016 to March 2017. The exhibition was a retrospective of the Living Architecture Systems Group’s work to date, and featured a series of projects illustrated in detail alongside original samples and prototypes. The exhibition included extensive arrays of components and assemblies used during the past fifteen years of project development. Select projects were illustrated in individual displays that included working drawings, panoramic photographs, videos and texts. An array of over a hundred notebooks and design papers were included, illustrating design thinking processes from early concepts through to fabrication and construction. The physical artifacts were complimented by a reading room with samples of LASG publications, and an immersive video presentation that documented large-scale LASG works including Sargasso at the Biennale of Art, Sydney, 2012, and Epiphyte Chamber, MMCA Seoul, 2014.
LASG theorist Sarah Bonnemaison provided text that explored the group’s work within a historical context exploring the theory of Organicism. “For many architects, a sense of urgency stemming from the ecological crisis reaches towards Organicism and draws it back into the conversation. The early 20th century German theorist Ernst Gadamer suggested that, through the historically-rooted tradition of Organicism, people may find a sense of “coming home” to the past. Yet the beauty of Organicism lies in the fact that one does not need to know about this historical tradition in order to come home. Contemporary digital technologies allow for the creation of systems that move far beyond the representation of nature, providing opportunities for greater complexity.”