Chronograms of Architecture
Contemporary architecture is the product of a richly diverse and highly attuned architectural culture; a constructed discourse, with a history constantly being written and rewritten. In an effort to understand the historical moment in which he lived, Charles Jencks, the legendary father of postmodernism, developed evolutionary diagrams presenting six ideologies that categorized what he defined as the "-wasms" and "-isms" of present, past, and future architectural culture. Architects, buildings, social trends, and technical innovations were arranged on a timeline according to these currents. The result? The now iconic image of a series of ripples tracing the pulsations of architecture and society between different ideals over time.
The exhibition Chronograms of Architecture presents Jencks's major diagrams, spanning the period from 1920 to 2000, alongside eight new diagrams created by eight teams of contemporary architects, researchers, and graphic designers, to address the historical moment we live in today. While none of them paints a synoptic picture of the situation, each in its own way reveals essential and urgent ways of seeing, understanding, and working within the architectural culture of the present. These eight diagrams—perhaps eight strands of a map of the current era—raise questions surrounding techno-optimism and techno-bureaucracy, feminist spatial practice and racial disparity, as well as the ecological implications and productive conditions of architecture, circular building strategies, and the definition of the discipline.
Originally exhibited in London at the Architectural Association, the exhibition at CIVA in Brussels is the first stop on a world tour: the project will then travel to South Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the United States, before returning to London. Along the way, new timelines will be added. For CIVA, two new timelines have been commissioned: one for London-based architect Maria Fedorchenko, the other for Rotor founder Lionel Devlieger. Focusing on the question of "writing history," the exhibition space is centered around a large installation that is both a showcase and an auditorium. It will host a series of lectures and workshops by Pier Vittorio Aureli, Mario Carpo, Lieven De Cauter & Gideon Boie, Isabelle Doucet, Boris Hamzeian, Michael Jakob, Beatrice Lampariello, Meow, Parasite 2.0, Lorenzo Pezzani, Wouter Van Acker, Christophe Van Gerrewey, Mark Wigley, Benjamin Zurstrassen, and many others.
The Chronograms of Architecture exhibition is a collaboration between CIVA, e-flux Architecture, and the Jencks Foundation at The Cosmic House. The Chronograms of Architecture project is the result of a collaboration between the Jencks Foundation, The Cosmic House, and e-flux architecture.
Opening: May 13, 2025, 7 p.m.
Symposium: May 13, 2025. 2:30 p.m. - 6 p.m.