“Affirmations of life” is an exhibition at Dreyer’s Gallery at the Danish Architecture Center, that for the first time for the general public presents the work of the young danish architectural firm Studio Fountainhead. The show focuses on the studios endeavours to critique and rethink the spatial appearances of the welfare state. Through five large scale models, a series of eight “spheres of critical thought” and an unfolded advertising pillar the architects present concrete spatial solutions to and critical comments on our common physical environments.
The advertising pillar forms a self illuminating manifest for the exhibition. A thin paper collage coats the inner surface of the glazed iron structure. Here, the studios written statements, graphic prints, event posters, articles and film-stills form a singe tapestry of critical agenda, - a manifest.
The crystalline repetition of eight suspended glass spheres further display the studios work with ideas within material boundaries. The spheres contain selected pieces from the studio´s archive: Sketch models, installations, product designs, building material and a business plan. Every sphere is a visual report of an aspect of the studios idea-world and introduces themes, that are inherent for the architecture presented in the core part of the show:
Crafted for the occasion, five spacious architectural models are suspended from the ceiling accompanied by floor standing illuminating sun chart diagrams. The models present four on-going projects with completely different means and level of detail. Some projects are presented in a raw form, as mere fabulations over an architectural or political idea whereas other and more construction mature projects can be viewed in all their exactitude and detail. The projects touch upon themes such as “utopias for the integration of the welfare institution in the urban fabric”, “new paradigms for urban productivity” and “holistic strategies for a thriving local milieu”.
The exhibition ran throughout December 2017 and was generously sponsored by the Dreyer´s Foundation and co-supported by Knud Højgaards Foundation.
