Si/No: The Architecture of Urban-Think Tank
November 2015 – FEBRUARY 2016: Architekturmuseum der TU Munich
October 2015: ETH Zürich, Hauptgebäude Säulenhalle
Urban-Think Tank‘s first retrospective exhibition aims to provoke questions about how design can create better cities. The exhibition is comprised of a modular, off-the-shelf, pipe structure, layered fabric panels, videos, and models. It shows an overview of U-TT’s research methods, proposals, and built projects from the past two decades. The presented work is premised on an urgent curiosity. Faced with crises of inequality, resource scarcity, and ecological volatility, U-TT argues that designers cannot remain passive. They must ask difficult questions. They must ask themselves and the world at large whether their work can make a meaningful difference. Yes or no?
A companion catalogue in the format of U-TT’s semi-regular publication, SLUM Lab Magazine, was released at the exhibition’s premiere in Zürich. As the tenth issue of SLUM Lab, it is a curated anthology of Urban‑Think Tank’s published work dating back to 2002, including essays, articles, book extracts, excerpts from out-of-print back issues, archival and documentary photo essays, as well as new contributions from Andres Lepik and Justin McGuirk.
Additional Details:
Graphic Design Consultant: Ruedi Baur (Intégral)
Design Assistant: Silvia Balzan
Editorial: Daniel Schwartz, Alexis Kalagas
Structural Design:: Danny Wills
Student Assistants: Jack Isles, Kosha Joian Ahmadi, Alexandra Meuche, Callisté Mastrandréas, Hélène Tabèze
Illustrated Typography:: Lea Becker
Supported by: ETH Zürich, D-ARCH, NSL Architekturmuseum der TU München Creation Baumann +GF+ Adunic Zumtobel Lighting, Schneider-Weisse
Selected Press Coverage
“Learning from Caracas,” DAMn Magazine, 2016
“Si/No Exhibition” DesignBoom, 2015
“Zwei unkonventionelle ETH-Professoren,” Tages Anzeiger, 2015