in collaboration with the venice biennale, london’s victoria and albert museum (V&A) presents ‘robin hood gardens: a ruin in reverse’.  the exhibition revolves around the 1972 brutalist housing estate by alison and peter smithson, which is currently under demolition following a controversial denial of protection by listing. through archival film and images, curators christopher turner and olivia horsfall turner explore the utopian vision of the smithsons while a newly commissioned work by do ho suh presents a panoramic documentation of the estate’s modular interiors as they have been adapted, decorated and furnished by residents. 

the V&A reassembles robin hood gardens façade at the venice biennaleimage © victoria and albert museum, london

 

 

visitors have a chance to stand on an original version of the brutalist estate after the V&A saved and preserved a three-story section of its façade just before demolition began in 2017. reassembled on a scaffold designed by ARUP, who engineered the original building, the 9-meter-high structure recreates a section of a ‘street in the sky’ — the elevated access deck designed by the smithsons to foster interaction between neighbours and promote community. ‘we want to look forward from ‘the street in the sky’ and into the future, we want to learn from the robin hood gardens,’ the curators note, ‘this is the beginning of a long term research into social housing and the estate.’ 

the V&A reassembles robin hood gardens façade at the venice biennale
korean artist do ho suh documents the robin hood gardens interiors as they have been adapted by its residents
image © designboom

 

 

korean artist do ho suh used time-lapse photography, drone footage, 3D-scanning and photogrammetry to document and reveal individual residents’ lives within the modular plan. the camera pans vertically and horizontally through the building moving from one space to the next to create a visual journey exploring ideas of home, memory and displacement within a physical structure on the verge of demolition.

the V&A reassembles robin hood gardens façade at the venice biennale

still from do ho suh’s film

image © designboom

the V&A reassembles robin hood gardens façade at the venice biennaleimage © victoria and albert museum, london

the V&A reassembles robin hood gardens façade at the venice biennaleimage © victoria and albert museum, london

the V&A reassembles robin hood gardens façade at the venice biennaleimage © victoria and albert museum, london

the V&A reassembles robin hood gardens façade at the venice biennaleimage © victoria and albert museum, london and the artist

the V&A reassembles robin hood gardens façade at the venice biennaleimage © victoria and albert museum, london

the V&A reassembles robin hood gardens façade at the venice biennale
the 9-m-high facade saved and preserved by the V&A before the demolition of the estate started

image © designboom

the V&A reassembles robin hood gardens façade at the venice biennalestill from do ho suh’s film

image © designboom

 

 

 

venice architecture biennale golden lion

designboom’s coverage of the 2018 venice architecture biennale is in partnership with leading energy company edison. edison is taking part in the 16th international architecture exhibition of la biennale di venezia by initiating a path towards sustainability and the efficient use of resources. the collaboration between edison and la biennale is based on awareness that energy is one of the fundamental elements of architecture and of the places, spaces and cities of contemporary life.