Next Time You're at a Pretentious Exhibition, Just Change It

Neil M. Denari Architects, Corrugated Duct House, 1998

If you exclude architects, its not architecture, says Gven zel. Its a sunny Tuesday morning, and were sitting in the UCLA IDEAS Lab, a large university-owned warehouse on the west side of Los Angeles.zel is the labs Technology Director. The concept, he explains regarding his latest project, Project Source Code, came from being in Venice and seeing the 14th International Venice Architecture Biennales Rem Koolhaas-curated exhibition, Fundamentals. The conceit of the show, Koolhaas states, is focusingon architecture, not architects. Koolhaas features the basic elements of architecturethe window, the balcony, the toilet, the fireplace, the escalator, the elevator, et cetera. But no architects.

Which, to zel, means no architects except Koolhaas, who organized the show. Put his name on it. Designed it. The pretension of excluding architects gives the show a flat, impersonal feel, as if these tools of humanity werent created by humanity. zel also found other faults in the show. For instance, why were escalators a fundamental element of architecture? And why were they separate from stairs?

But most importantly, zel found fault with the omission of digital architecture. Nearly all architects today create models and simulations digitally. Is this not also a fundamental element of architecture? Today, 3-D models are nearly as common as the real thing. Go to a car manufacturers site to watch the promotional video detailing the design of the vehicle, or check out the plans for any new building being erected in the downtown of your city. 3-D architecture is not only publicity; its behind nearly every building or designed object in the 21stcentury. And not only that, but architects can play within the programs, creating that which might seem like impossibilities now, or open a dialogue as to what is possible in the future.

Left to right: Ivan Sutherland, The VW Beetle Shell, 1967. Martin Newell, The Utah Teapot, 1975

zel decided to stage an intervention within the exhibition. But how? zel grins. He has me download an app called Augment. The basic idea of Augment, one of many current augmented reality apps, is that you can scan objects with the app, which indexes them for later use. Then other users that have downloaded Augment can walk into a room, open the app, and point their phone at the indexed objects, enabling them to view a digital object in front of it. Using this app, zel, who achieved a certain amount of fame with his Cerebral Hut project from 2012, decided to re-curate the show with historic and influential pieces of digital architecture.

To do this, zel had to get creative. He brought a backpack full of equipment into the Biennale and scanned the entire Koolhaas exhibition with the app. zel wandered the exhibit with an iPad, a computer, and a cellphone, to the mild bewilderment of guards. zel is the kind of quiet, fumbling 30-something that uses a computer as an extension of his being, so most of the guards didnt even notice, but the ones that did were even more perplexed. Im just measuring, he would tell them. But since he didnt touch anything, and didnt seem to be doing anything wrong, they left him alone.

Oosterhuis_Lnrd, Saltwater Pavilion, 1997

After scanning the space, zel decided upon the six seminal pieces of digital architecture to alter the showeverything Koolhaas left out. For instance, Ivan Sutherlands The VW Beetle Shell from 1968, and Martin Newells The Utah Teapot from 1975, two early instances of how material objects were translated into the digital realm, are on display in front of the introductory text to the Koolhaas exhibition. Or on the left wall of the Balcony Gallery is Greg Lynns 1997 Embryological House, a digital case study of an animated home designallowing for an infinite number of possible designsthat caused waves in the architecture community when it was designed.

Roberge, Rudy, Hoffman, Koebel, Spreebogen Master Plan, 1993

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Next Time You're at a Pretentious Exhibition, Just Change It