Yona Friedman. Genesis of a Vision

Yona Friedman. Genesis of aVision

Curator : Nader Seraj in collaboration with : Emmanuele Lo Giudice Street Museum / Jean-Baptiste Decavèle Slide Shows (animations)_Balkis Production Paris, Le Voyages en Licornie, Iconostase 25 i.s. With the participation of : Luis Antonio Gutiérrez Cabrero, Marianne Homiridis, Marc Vincent Kalinka, Juan Miguel Hernández León, José Miguel de Prada Poole

Exhibition from 20th September to 24th October 2012. 

“…I do not feel like a utopian, nor an architect, nor a writer, but rather all these things together as they complete each other and it is impossible to separate them.” - Yona Friedman

The Dilution of Architecture presents the development of Yona Friedman’s creative pursuits, the Hungarian architect, artist, and author of Utopies Réalisables (Feasible Utopias). His avant-garde ideas explored new conceptions of the city and ways of life existing on the fringes of “mainstream” architecture, from the second half of the 20th century to nowadays. The exhibition is based on a programme created for Archizoom by Yona Friedman. The constructed shape experiences dilution as it evolves towards its grand themes: mobile architecture, the spatial city, urban agriculture, network cities, autoplanification, and the role of the architect. At the centre of the space, a video installation showcases an interview with Yona Friedman on the genesis of his vision conducted in the very particular and gainful atmosphere of his Parisian studio. In parallel, various architecture thinkers analyse his creative and philosophical approach within its historical context, as well as within present-day developments. Through his prioritisation of the process over the object, Friedman lays out an architectural design that accentuates communication prior to the creation of the shape itself. For users to entirely take in his ideas, he puts forth architectural programmes that are reduced to what is essential, comparable to guidelines for a plural society. These are presented within the exhibition through a documenting of his drawings, writings and concepts that are at each and everyone's scale. More than just a collection of projects, the exhibition attempts to comprehend and communicate the seed of such revolutionary thought, which feels all the more relevant today.

+info: Archizoom