November 22, 2024
July 5, 2024
The Museum of Modern Art presents two new exhibitions on contemporary and modern architecture:
Down to Earth (Gallery 216)
Opened November 22, 2024
Today, new generations of architects worldwide are forging close relationships between built structures and the Earth. This approach sharply contrasts with that of their modernist predecessors from the early and mid-20th century, who intentionally raised living spaces from soil—then viewed as a source of humidity and disease. No longer understood as an antagonist but as an ally to human well-being and survival, the ground has become a rich site to reconsider our interconnectedness with the planet.
Borrowing its title from French philosopher Bruno Latour’s book Down to Earth, this gallery showcases a series of architectural projects that thoughtfully intervene in the so-called “critical zone,” our planet’s outer crust where most life occurs. Both conceptual and material, these highly innovative projects demonstrate how the design of the built environment can help foster resilient communities, mitigate the devastating impacts of the climate crisis, and re-establish connections between humans and nonhuman life.
Down to Earth is organized by Evangelos Kotsioris, Assistant Curator, and Paula Vilaplana de Miguel, Curatorial Assistant, with Joëlle Martin, former 12-month intern, Department of Architecture and Design, and Abby Hermosilla, Curatorial Assistant, Curatorial Affairs. The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of public events and online features. More information to follow on moma.org
The City May Now Scatter (Gallery 519)
Opened July 5, 2024
Frank Lloyd Wright’s impressive twelve-foot-by-twelve-foot model of his planning scheme Broadacre City is on display for the first time in ten years as part of The City May Now Scatter, an exhibition exploring the wider sociotechnical context of Wright’s proposal. Arranged around the model are works from MoMA’s collection—ranging from Edward Hopper’s painting of a gas station to Lester Beal’s posters advocating for rural electrification—that likewise grapple with the potentials and perils of the early twentieth century’s new transportation and communication technologies.
For Wright, the “ubiquitous mobilization” brought about by the automobile and the “instantaneous communication” enabled by the telephone would eliminate the economic gains of concentrating industry and commerce within city centers. Accordingly, with Broadacre City, Wright proposed laying a grid of highways across the United States to enable the dispersal of urban populations to the countryside where they would be given an acre or more of land. No longer would production be centralized within vertically integrated corporations; instead, for Wright, the car would revive Thomas Jefferson’s dream of widespread land ownership, a political project originally advanced at a time when the right to hold property was limited to white men. Broadacre’s updating of this fantasy has newfound relevance today, as internet-enabled distribution networks again reconfigure our landscape and nostalgic visions of an earlier, supposedly more innocent, America once more hold sway.
The City May Now Scatter is organized by Carson Chan, Director, Matthew Wagstaffe, Research Assistant, Dewi Tan, former Research Assistant, and Eva Lavranou, former 12-Month Intern, Emilio Ambasz Institute for the Joint Study of the Built and Natural Environment, with Rachel Remick, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Painting and Sculpture.