Following
my appointment and conversation with Gary Van Zante at the MIT Museum, I
visited the exhibition on the 150th anniversary of the
MIT-Architecture, the oldest school of architecture. The exhibition features a
lot of architectural design projects by students and from various time periods
at the school, architectural models with their innovative design vocabulary,
posters, photographs, charts, theses, etc. To be honest, it was impossible for
me to comprehend “150 years” of the school by visiting this exhibition only one
time since its content was offering a lot of information, texts, drawings and
models from different time periods.
While
visiting the exhibition, there were some questions in my mind: What is the role
of curatorship (with a solid foundation in critical thinking) to stimulate new
ways of understanding in today’s architecture? In addition to deep knowledge on
architecture (and art) history, what kind of skillsets and competences in
visual and textual communication, presentation and exhibition-making should
they have in order to be able to deliver “the content and essential message” of an
exhibition? What are the current “innovative” curatorial approaches in today’s
architecture in order to present and disseminate information in “a clear way” in today’s complex and highly mediated world?...I
hope such a comprehensive exhibition on the history of the school can be a productive conversation starter for its progressive steps through a self-critical lens on
its past.
Photo: Meral Ekincioglu