Urban Fictions for Possible Futures
May 16–July 16, 2017
The future never felt closer than it does today. A series of environmental, technological, and social shifts are changing the planet. The Earth resembles a city which keeps on sprawling outwards while other areas are abandoned due to climate change and extreme socio-political conditions. Life in the urban environment is reorganized thanks to intelligent systems constantly processing human and machinic behavior. Artificial ecologies promise to offer solutions to the problems of the ever-growing global population. As diverse images, once belonging to the future, become more and more part of the present, an urge to understand the ongoing phenomena becomes apparent.
Created by the Onassis Cultural Centre-Athens, the Tomorrows exhibition unfolds the multiple aspects the future presents today through the works of artists, architects, and designers. Of course, dealing with the future is not new. Renowned are the visionary architectural proposals of the ’60s which addressed the promises of the new networks, and the possibilities of overcoming environmental problems, thanks to the technological advance. The speculative scenarios and research projects of the time aimed to imagine and influence changes towards a desirable future. Nowadays, dealing with the future is once again timely but the proposals coming from the fields of art, design, and architecture, are in a somehow different context. Less in anticipation of tomorrow’s worlds, contemporary narratives rather start from the challenges and the contradictions that shape the images of the future. The current scenarios are exaggerated, unexpected, and often paradoxical, aiming to raise questions, and to provoke discussions. Furthermore, taking into consideration that the future reaches different geographical areas at a different pace, many of today’s hypotheses underline the role of local conditions and needs.
For more information, you may visit tomorrows.sgt.gr which has just been launched and includes a detailed presentation of the exhibition, the participating projects, and the video documentation of three parallel events:
“Tomorrow’s Stories,” a storytelling workshop initiated by Liam Young with the participation of Leigh Alexander, Ioanna Bourazopoulou, James Bridle, Panos Dragonas, Marina Gioti and Bruce Sterling. The stories written formed the content of Liam Young’s video installation at the Tomorrows exhibition.
“Tomorrow’s Talks,” a series of talks on current practices and methodologies that use speculation to explore the future, with the participation of Stefania Strouza & The New Raw, Zenovia Toloudi, Michael Young, Behnaz Farahi, Adam Harvey, Penelope Haralambidou and Liam Young.
“Takis Ch. Zenetos: Electronic Urbanism, 40 years after,” a panel discussion that took place on the 40th anniversary of Zenetos’ death, with the participation of Panos Dragonas, Lydia Kallipoliti, Manolis Marmaras and Yorgos Tzirtzilakis.
The exhibition electronic catalogue will be freely available online in September, with texts by Thomas Doxiadis, Cathryn Dwyre & Chris Perry, Shannon Mattern, Tobias Revell & Georgina Voss, Bruce Sterling.
Curated by: Daphne Dragona, Panos Dragonas
Coordination: Christos Carras
Organized by: Konstantina Soulioti
Exhibition Design: Panos Dragonas, Varvara Christopoulou
The exhibition at the Diplareios School in Athens featured 32 individual and group projects by: Constantinos Doxiadis / Shu Lea Cheang / Design Earth / Demetra Katsota & the Coastal Domains Option Studio, University of Patras / Stefania Strouza & The New Raw / Cathryn Dwyre & Chris Perry / Emma Charles / Morehshin Allahyari & Daniel Rourke with ARTEKLAB, Antonio Esparza, Darlene Farris-LaBar and Geraldine Juárez / Erich Berger & Mari Keto / Kyriaki Goni / Aristide Antonas / Zenovia Toloudi / Michael Young & the Yale School of Architecture Advanced Studio / Metahaven / Takis Ch. Zenetos / Manolis Daskalakis-Lemos / Lina Theodorou / Penelope Haralambidou & MArch Unit 24, Bartlett School of Architecture / Liam Young / Lydia Kallipoliti & Andreas Theodoridis with Erica Vinson, Xueping Li, Seraphim Le and Dakota Pace / Point Supreme Architects / Zissis Kotionis / Tobias Revell / AREA Architecture Research Athens / Victoria University of Wellington / Adam Harvey / Ava Aghakouchak & Maria Paneta / New Affiliates & FarzinFarzin / James Bridle / Vassiliea Stylianidou / !Mediengruppe Bitnik / Pinar Yoldas
