Doll's Houses / The Competitive Hypothesis

In 1981, AD's editor, Andreas Papadakis is unable to find the perfect doll's house for his daughter and so announces a competition for architects to design one. When it came to the election of the best designs dissent emerges. Stage one was open and paper-based, from wich 50 finalust were selected. For stage two twenty renowed architects had to be additionally invited to join the celebrity architect would lend some capital to the competition. The final jury consisted of James Gowan, Robert Maxwell, Andreas Papadakis, Bruno Zevi and Vicent Scully but also a parallel jury made up of children. In this section of the exhibition, a series of 10 redrawn postcards illustrates the split results, 5 winners selected by a panel of children and 5 winners selected by a panel of architects.

Arqueología del Futuro ha colaborado junto al gran Daniel Fernández Pascual en el comisariado de una de las secciones de la exposición "The Competitive Hypothesis" denominada "ON ANONYMITY, DECEPTION AND AMBITION" en el Storefront for Art and Architecture [New York] 

"Encapsulated David" Piero Frassinelli_Superstudio / The Competitive Hypothesis

Photos: Daniel Fernández Pascual / Carlos Mínguez Carrasco_assistant curator at Storefront 

I. A miniature mock-up of the Encapsulated David is suspended from the ceiling encased in a solitary white egg. It has a peepholes at eye height. The peepholes allows visitors to take a look inside and discover Frassinelli's "Superstar". In his purely written submission to the competition "House for a SuperStar" / Housing Shinkenchiku Competition 1975 Judge: Arata Isozaki, he compares his egg capsule to the eternity of the pyramid and the eternity of the Pharaon. Shifting from the david as a material working-object into himself as a working-author. With his smartly choreographed marketing - making isozaki anticipate his submission via Natalini- Frassinelli reveals his secret touch on the competition work itself, a sentiment that elicits Isozaki admiration.

Arqueología del Futuro ha colaborado junto al gran Daniel Fernández Pascual en el comisariado de una de las secciones de la exposición "The Competitive Hypothesis" denominada "ON ANONYMITY, DECEPTION AND AMBITION" en el Storefront for Art and Architecture [New york] 



The Japan Architect, vol 51 Nº2, February 1976, pp.34-35.

"Projects must be signed" Archizoom / The Competitive Hypothesis

Photos: Daniel Fernández Pascual

II. On a small shelf, a rubber stamp is placed next to an inkpad. The stamp reads "Projects Must Be Signed". It translates from Italian "I Progetti Si Firmano": the proposal for the international competition for the Università degli Studi in Florence that was presented in 1970 by Archizoom Associati (Andrea Branzi / Gilberto Corretti / Paolo Deganello / Massimo Morozzi). Archizoom's adaptation of the Non-Stop City for the competition in Florence was a statement about autorship. Being realistic about how architecture competitions worked / didn't work (whatever the case may be), they decided to unveil the hypocrisy of anonymity even at risk of disqualification. Rejecting an architecture of bureaucracy they sign their proposal with actual names (as well as surnames and addresses) and title the competition entry so that no doubt might remain as to its provenance.


Arqueología del Futuro ha colaborado junto al gran Daniel Fernández Pascual en el comisariado de una de las secciones de la exposición "The Competitive Hypothesis" denominada "ON ANONYMITY, DECEPTION AND AMBITION" en el Storefront for Art and Architecture [New york] 

AF as part of Curatorial Team: The Competitive Hypothesis / Storefront for Art and Architecture

The Competitive Hypothesis

TUESDAY JANUARY 22, 2013

An exhibition examining the politics behind the architecture competition

The Competitive Hypothesis
An exhibition examining the politics behind the architecture competition

Exhibition Opening: January 22, 2013, 7PM
Exhibition: January 22 - February 15, 2013

The Competitive Hypothesis is an exhibition examining the politics behind the architectural competition. The exhibition, presented in partnership with Think-Space (www.think-space.org), questions the current state, purpose and value of architecture competitions. 

Through four curated spaces within the gallery, The Competitive Hypothesis presents major architectural competitions produced within the past few years, objects from competitions used to gain competitive advantages, dioramas of image fragments sourced from a selection of recent urban design renderings, and short texts and self portraits of some of the unknown minds of significant competition winners (ie. interns). The Competitive Hypothesis will highlight the double meanings inherent in the 'competition': on one hand referring to the competition as a procurement mechanism for projects, on the other referring to an ethos or disposition that permeates work practice. This exhibition turns to both of these possibilities in order to continue an investigation into architecture's present condition. 

Exhibition Credits

Curated by Adrian Lahoud

Curatorial Team

Ana Dana Beros, Kata Gaspar, Carmelo Rodríguez Cedillo, Daniel Fernández Pascual, Ross Exo Adams, Ivonne Santoyo Orozco, Davide Sacconi

Exhibition Design by Amanda Clarke and Adrian Lahoud

Graphic Design by Rafaela Drazic

About Think-Space

Think Space is a wide scale disciplinary intervention using a design competition, exhibition, unconference and publications as its material. More information: http://www.think-space.org

This exhibition is organized in partnership with the Zagreb Society of Architects and funded in part by Graham Foundation, Croatian Ministry of Culture and ACO Croatia. 

Additional support for Storefront for Art in Architecture's exhibitions and programs are made possible by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; The Peter T. Joseph Foundation; by its Board of Directors, members and individuals.

http://www.storefrontnews.org/programming/events?preview=true&e=514

"Postcards From New York", reconstrucción de Arqueología del Futuro + PKMN para la exposición "Past Futures, Present, Futures en el StoreFront for Art and Architecture de New York

Arqueología del Futuro / PKMN hemos sido invitados a la muestra "Past Futures, Present, Futures" en el StoreFront for Art and Architecture de New York... en el que 101 Oficinas de Arquitectura de todo el mundo han reconstruido 101 utopías pasadas futuros con Nueva York como principal protagonista...

Nosotros hemos "Reconstruido" la nº60 "Roof Landing Strip" (1919) de H.T. Hanson, mini-aeropuertos circulares situados sobre los edificios de la ciudad para el desarrollo del transporte aéreo urbano... 

+ info sobre PAST FUTURES, PRESENT, FUTURES [Curated by Eva Franch]: 

http://storefrontnews.org/programming/events?preview=true&e=489

Nuestra reconstrucción:

“Postcards from New York”

“October 26th, 2012. This morning, the major has opened the new Roof Landing Strip on Manhattan's Upper East Side, a circular steel structure over Guggenheim Museum.

This new Urban airport Platform makes the number nine in New York since the first unit was built in 1922 according to the design made by H.T. Hanson that appeared on the famous Popular Science review in June 1919. Since then, New York has become the city with the busiest aerial traffic in the world, being a pioneer not only in this kind of communications but also in including airplane as a part of its urban landscape.

The number of planes taking off these Urban Platforms is now reaching 320, and it is one of their purposes to link the heart of the city with the farthest suburbs that are the result of sprawl excesses. Thousands of tourists toy with their cameras trying to catch as many planes as they can, planes that fly through the sky of Manhattan drawing implausible acrobatics.

There are always planes in the sky on our postcards from New York!!!”

Four reference projects:

#01 Raimund Abraham, 1979. Monument to Aviation, Melbourne.

#02 Gianni Pettena, 1971. Imprisonment.

#03 Gianni Pettena, 1971. Architectural Project nº2.

#04 Ufo, 1971. Il mostro dell’ID.

"Roof Landing Strip" (1919) de H.T. Hanson // Popular Science June 1919