Architectural Jazz

The Grand Interior - Chicago Architecture Biennial 2017

In their contribution to the Chicago Architecture Biennial, Barcelona-based MAIO intentionally omits architecture to highlight the oft-neglected importance of interiors—and the quotidian objects that comprise them. Using a Surrealist door in Marcel Duchamp’s Paris apartment as a literal frame of reference, the architects have set a sprawling, dollhouse-scaled landscape atop a mirror. In the absence of architecture, the viewer is left to consider a sea of tiny, Pepto pink–doused objects—miniature chairs, door frames, a dining table, a toilet, a flat-screen TV, a pool table complete with mini cues—all reflected in the glass below. As a bonus, the mirror also reflects the ornate interiors of the Chicago Cultural Center’s GAR Hall.

Eduardo Souto de Moura - Pavilion for an installation by Jannis Kounellis at XXI Triennale di Milano, Milan 2016. Via, photos © Giovanni Nardi, Andrea Martiradonna.