The Lives of Spaces was the Irish Pavilion for the 11th International Architecture Exhibition 2008 and consisted of a series of filmic representations displayed in specially-designed armatures. The exhibition sought to communicate the specifics of spatial experience, focusing on how it feels to be in a space and on what effect that experience might have. In an attempt to get beyond the common abstract, distancing effect of traditional architectural displays of drawings and models, film was used as the primary medium.
Over the course of 2009 and 2010 The Lives of Spaces toured to Farmleigh Gallery in Dublin, Kilkenny Castle, Limerick School of Art and Design, Ormeau Baths Gallery in Belfast and the RIBA Gallery in London. Its films featured in the Belfast Film Festival, the exhibition was accompanied by talks, events and education activities, and it inspired an original theatre piece by The Lyric Studio performed in the Ormeau Baths Gallery in March 2010.
Deconstructing the Maze by Dara McGrath in collaboration with RMI architects from The Lives of Spaces, 2008.
The Lives of Spaces, publication cover, 2008.
In 2012 The Art Institute of Chicago accessioned The Lives of Spaces publication into their architecture and design collection. The book, designed by Conor & David, was published by the Irish Architecture Foundation and UCD. This gesture affirmed the publications position in international design history. Zoe Ryan, the chair and curator of Architecture and Design at The Art Institute of Chicago said at the time that this exceptional publication was an invaluable addition to the Department of Architecture and Design’s permanent collection.
The book included a text from each of the nine participants describing their experience of working towards the exhibition and their projects. In each case, these essays were followed by a second, discursive piece which elaborates upon the themes and ideas embodied by the works. Contributors to this section of the book included Douglas Smith, Emmett Scanlon, Declan McGonagle, Brian Ward, Gary Boyd, Kevin Donovan, Kathleen Chakraborty and Stefano Casciani (editor of Domus magazine). The essays were illustrated with visual material derived from the architects’ films and installations. In addition, an interview conducted by Declan Long with the curators, Nathalie Weadick and Hugh Campbell formed an introduction to the book along with an essay by Samantha Martin-McAuliffe on the lives and spaces of the Palazzo Giustinian-Lolin. The book also opened with a foreword by the acclaimed international critic Anthony Vidler.
The Lives of Spaces, venue Palazzo Guistinian Lolin, Academia, Venice, 2008.
Walkthrough of The Lives of Spaces by Conor & David, 2008.
Curatorial schema.
