informal: An Exhibition of Work by Cecil Balmond

The world is constantly changing. It is a multiplex of interconnected, fluid systems. Technology advances. Values and institutions evolve. Fixed ideologies shift.

Faced with this reality, a more dynamic design approach is needed.

informal is an opportunistic methodology that seizes a local moment and makes something of it. Ignoring preconceptions, the informal approach keeps one guessing. Ideas become an intense exploration of the immediate.

Hierarchies and dogma are replaced by interdependence, self-help and improvisation—concepts proposed as new principles of organization. informal anticipates these new principles in the design of buildings. Architecture is viewed as a formative process stemming from a seminal structural logic. Instead of dumb skeleton, there is network—a connective patch through pattern.

This exhibition invites visitors to enter the creative crossover, a place where we transition from abstract metaphor to tangible reality. The space will share the intimacies of the design process through built projects, graphics, sketches, principles, and the informal manifesto.

 

Featured Projects:

Pedro e Inês Bridge - Coimbra, Portugal

Weave Bridge - Pennsylvania, USA

Serpentine Pavilion 2002 (Toyo Ito - Balmond), London, UK

Serpentine Pavilion 2005 (Alvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura - Balmond), London, UK

Waterfront -  Mixed-use Development - Colombo, Sri Lanka

Chemnitz - Sport Stadium (concept) - Chemnitz, Germany

V&A Spiral - Gallery (concept) – Liebeskind and Balmond, London, UK

Institute of the Penn - Museum/Learning Facility (concept) - United Arab Emirates

Arnhem Central – Mixed-use Development/Train Station - UN Studio - Balmond Arup AGU Arnhem Netherlands

On view September 6- October 4, 2017 in the Mebane Gallery on the ground floor of Goldsmith Hall. Free and open to the public.