Rem Koolhaas Explores the Future of Countrysides in Guggenheim Exhibition
Featuring “everything that is not art.”
Renown architect Rem Koolhaas is exploring changes affecting the world’s surfaces beyond cities with “Countryside, The Future.” Opening at the Guggenheim next week, the exhibition will spotlight rural areas where, Koolhaas believes, “the most radical, modern components of our civilization are taking place.” Koolhaas has linked up with Samir Bantal, Director of AMO, to bring multi-sensory photos, videos and archive materials to the museum — everything that “is not art.”
“Countryside, The Future” presents original research that addresses urgent environmental, political and socioeconomic issues. Before entering the museum, visitors will encounter a hi-tech tractor capable of being controlled by an iPad next to a module growing tomatoes under fluorescent pink light. Once inside, visitors will discover objects within Guggenheim’s spiraling rotunda that reflect on topics such as climate change, migration, preservation and evolution.
“Architects imagine, where there’s nothing, a future— a future which is highly detailed,” Koolhaas explains. “If you look at the present in a creative way, you can also unleash futures. So in that sense, we are not so much predictors of the future but enablers of the future…New York is obviously a fantastic platform to launch a show which is about the absolute opposite of New York— the space on the earth outside the city, i.e., the countryside.”
Go behind the scenes of “Countryside, The Future” in the video above. The exhibition will run from February 20 to August 14 in New York. Visit TASCHEN’s webstore to learn more about the exhibition’s official book companion, Countryside, A Report, which is available now at the Guggenheim’s museum shop and publishes in the U.S. on March 23.
In other news, LACMA will launch the first-ever international Yoshimoto Nara retrospective this April.
Guggenheim
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