Radical Nature, at the Barbican in London, investigates nature and design.
August 20th, 2009
The relationship between architecture and nature is constantly evolving, and over the past forty years this relationship has had to be dramatically re-evaluated. ’¨’¨
Radical Nature, an exhibition currently showing at London’s Barbican, explores ideas that have emerged from Land Art, environmental activism, experimental architecture and utopianism. ’¨’¨The first exhibition of its kind, it brings together key artists and architects from the last forty years who have created visionary works and solutions addressing our changing environment.
In the past, the natural world has often been idealised or disconnected from our built environment, particularly in densely urban areas. Since the 1960s, the perception of the natural world as being pure and distant has been overtaken by an awareness of environmental issues – as the increasingly evident degradation of the planet has infiltrated the wider consciousness, it has in turn informed the practice of architects and artists exploring the relationship between nature and the built environment.
The exhibition celebrates the work of contemporary artists, while revealing the roots of such work in the revolutionary vision of pioneers such as Beuys, Buckminster Fuller and Denes.
Radical Nature also features a specially commissioned off-site installation in East London by the experimental architectural collective EXYZT. The Dalston Mill transforms a disused site into a summer retreat, reclaiming wasteland and integrating it into the urban environment.
Hero Image: Richard Buckminster Fuller
US Pavilion for Expo 67, 1967
Commissioned by the United States Information Agency for the Montreal World Fair
Courtesy The Estate of R. Buckminster Fuller
Heather and Ivan Morison
I am so sorry. Goodbye, 2008
Originally commissioned for Tatton Park Biennial 2008
Courtesy the artists
Photo: Wig Worland
Richard Buckminster Fuller and Shoji Sadao
Project for Floating Cloud Structures (Cloud Nine), ca.1960
Courtesy The Estate of R. Buckminster Fuller
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Sub-Zero and Wolf’s prestigious Kitchen Design Contest (KDC) has celebrated the very best in kitchen innovation and aesthetics for three decades now. Recognising premier kitchen design professionals from around the globe, the KDC facilitates innovation, style and functionality that pushes boundaries.
Savage Design’s approach to understanding the relationship between design concepts and user experience, particularly with metalwork, transcends traditional boundaries, blending timeless craftsmanship with digital innovation to create enduring elegance in objects, furnishings, and door furniture.
Marylou Cafaro’s first trendjournal sparked a powerful, decades-long movement in joinery designs and finishes which eventually saw Australian design develop its independence and characteristic style. Now, polytec offers all-new insights into the future of Australian design.
Brisbane Indesign makes a comeback in 2012, complete with a slick new website.
Public infrastructure and cultural projects have been the big winners at this year’s National Architecture Awards.
As Elenberg Fraser embarks on workplace fit-outs for future workplaces, they ask: What will make us genuinely excited to come into the office every day? Callum Fraser shares the studio’s framework for design principles that feed into the “bizarro world of the future office”.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
Salone del Mobile 2024 is only a few weeks away, so we’re highlighting here seven special events, spaces and installations that we’re certainly planning to check out.
From the trailblazer of Spanish industrial design comes a new collection of recycled rugs – a powerful exploration of the concept of waste, a keen celebration of imperfection, and a new underfoot symbol of responsible design.