A new exhibition at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal highlights pivotal moments in the ongoing relationship between writing and architecture over the past 50 years. Called Take Note, it is the result of a research seminar led by Sylvia Lavin in the department of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of California at Los Angeles.
“In the 1960s, a small oppositional element in architecture forged its own counterculture by turning its energies away from building toward writing,” says Lavin. “In its hands, the page became a site for design and texts became architectural works in their own right.” Lavin argues that architecture has never been the same: “This turn toward writing soon engaged architecture with broader questions of pop culture, mass media, advertising and emerged technologies, setting in motion a fundamental transformation of the discipline whose momentum remains unabated to this day. Take Note offers an album of snapshots of key episodes in that transformation.”
The exhibition features works from the CCA Collection and other archives, as well as works from contemporary architectural studios — including Gehry Partners, Greg Lynn FORM, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Stan Allen Architect and Bernard Tschumi.
Take Note runs at the Canadian Centre for Architecture through May 30.