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PARSONS PRESENTS DETOURExhibition Explores Notable Architecture and Design
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| Rest Area, Lofoten, Norway, Snøhetta AS |
On View at the Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries
Sheila C. Johnson Design Center
Parsons The New School for Design
66 Fifth Avenue at 13th Street
December 4, 2009 – January 19, 2010
Lecture + Reception: Dec. 4, 6 pm + 7:15 pm
Symposium, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum:
Jan. 19, 4:30 pm
NEW YORK, November 11, 2009— What can rest stops, information centers, and observation decks tell visitors about a culture? The School of Constructed Environments at Parsons The New School for Design will explore this question when it presents Detour, a traveling exhibition documenting notable architecture and design along 18 Norwegian National Tourist Routes. The exhibition, which is sponsored by the Royal Norwegian Consulate General and presented in collaboration with the Architectural League of New York and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, will be on view December 4 through January 19 at the Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons.
Detour features photography and architectural models of key works from Norway's National Tourist Routes Project initiated by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, which encourages designers across the world to propose alternatives to the traditional tourist-route architecture, which tends to value function over aesthetic beauty. The architects and designers make structures that harmonize with the surroundings and reinforce travelers’ appreciation of the great outdoors and unspoiled countryside. A centerpiece of the exhibition is a large viewing chamber that lets visitors peek inside at a film that winds alongNorway's scenicroads and bike paths and explores in detail some of the projects.
The initiative has so far resulted in close to 200 built projects, ranging from stopping points, information centers, picnic areas, rest stops, and observation platforms; including works by architect Peter Zumthor in collaboration with artist Louise Bourgeois, and Snøhetta. The project emphasizes creativity and innovation over cost efficiency, and has served as a way for young architects to launch themselves as independent designers. Two of the earliest participants, Jan Olav Jensen and Børre Skodvin from Jensen & Skodvin Architects, have become internationally recognized names, and their viewing platform at Gudbrandsjuvet was nominated for the 2009 Mies van der Rohe Award for Architecture.
In timing with the opening, there will be a panel discussion featuring participating architects on December 4 at 6 pm at The New School's Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, 55 West 13th Street, followed by an opening reception in the galleries, which is free and open to the public. The event will feature Karl Otto Ellefsen, an architect and principal of the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, who chaired the Quality Council for Concept and National Considerations, which oversaw the development of the National Tourist Routes Project. Also participating are the Norwegian architects Marthe Melbye of PUSHAK and Ellen Hellsten of Ghilardi+Hellsten Arkitekter. For more information, visit www.newschool.edu/events.
On Tuesday, January 19, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum will host Detour: Art, Architecture, Cities and Landscapes, a symposium featuring an afternoon panel at 4:30 pm with architects and artists from Europe and the United States moderated by David van der Leer, Assistant Curator for Architecture and Design as well as two keynote lectures in the evening. Book signing and reception follows. Tickets for the symposium are $10; $7 for Guggenheim and Architectural League Members; and FREE to students and university staff with ID and RSVP. For information, call the Guggenheim Box Office, 212-423-3587, Mon-Fri, 1-5 pm. At noon, symposium participants can join a curatorial and artist walkthrough of the Detour exhibition. RSVP at igf@mfa.no or 212-310-1509.
Through the Architectural League of New York, AIA and New York State continuing education credits are available for both of these events. For more information, contact info@archleague.org.
The exhibition Detour is a collaboration between the Norwegian Public Roads Administration and Norsk Form - The Foundation for Design and Architecture in Norway with generous support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Innovation Norway. Detour has been exhibited in London, Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Brussels, Bologna, Bratislava, Caen, the National Building Museum in Washington, DC, and the Center for Architecture in Philadelphia.
About the School of Constructed Environments at Parsons The New School for Design
The School of Constructed Environments at Parsons The New School for Design brings together Parsons academic offerings in the fields of architecture, interior design, lighting design and product design. In addition to the new MFA in Interior Design, this encompasses a Master of Architecture, Master of Fine Arts in Lighting Design, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Architectural Design, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Product Design, and Associates Degree in Interior Design. The school is one of five thematic schools that Parsons has recently created to better facilitate an interdisciplinary approach to design education. For more information, please visit www.newschool.edu/parsons/sce.
About the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center
The Sheila C. Johnson Design Center is an award-winning campus center for Parsons The New School for Design that combines learning and public spaces with exhibition galleries to provide an important new downtown destination for art and design programming. The mission of the Center is to generate an active dialogue on the role of innovative art and design in responding to the contemporary world. Its programming encourages an interdisciplinary examination of possibility and process, linking the university to local and global debates. The center is named in honor of its primary benefactor, New School Trustee and Parsons Board Chair Sheila C. Johnson. The design by Lyn Rice Architects is the recipient of numerous awards, including an Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects. For more information, please visit www.newschool.edu/johnsondesigncenter.
About the Architectural League of New York
Founded in 1881, the Architectural League promotes excellence and innovation in contemporary architecture and urbanism by furthering the education of architects and by communicating to a broad audience the importance of architecture in public life. In addition to its lectures and exhibitions, the Architectural League organizes several annual competitions, including Emerging Voices, the Architectural League Prize (formerly known as the Young Architects Forum), and the Deborah J. Norden Fund travel grant. For more information, please visit www.archleague.org.
About the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation
Founded in 1937, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation is dedicated to promoting the understanding and appreciation of art, primarily of the modern and contemporary periods, through exhibitions, education programs, research initiatives, and publications. Currently the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation owns and operates the Guggenheim Museum on Fifth Avenue in New York and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection on the Grand Canal in Venice, and also provides programming and management for two other museums in Europe that bear its name: the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin. The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Museum, a museum of modern and contemporary art designed by architect Frank Gehry, is scheduled to open in 2013.
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Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, Parsons The New School for Design
General Information:
Location: 66 Fifth Avenue at 13th Street, New York
Gallery hours: Open daily 12-6 pm and Thursday until 8 p.m.; closed all major holidays and holiday eves.
Admission: Free
Info: Please contact 212.229.8919 or visit www.newschool.edu/johnsondesigncenter.
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