Crumpled paper. A small empty box. Some tangled wire. An acorn. A roll of tape. Sou Fujimoto, a Japanese architect, thinks that any of these items might be considered architecture and he has placed these and MANY other items on small pedestals in the Chicago Cultural Center in an exhibit titled, “Architecture is Everywhere.”
Putting things on pedestals generally gives us the impression that it has some importance. Think about what we usually place on them – sculptures of important historical people, sometimes beautiful works of art. Crumpled paper? In this instance, it is an interesting idea – why not look at the shapes of everyday objects, especially ones that we normally would toss into the trash heap, and see the beauty in the shapes, colors and textures? (And don’t tell me that you haven’t thought once or twice that an acorn looks like a house with a lot of balconies for an inchworm.)
By placing these usually discarded items on pedestals, you look more deeply at them, and sometimes you can see a similarity to a building or space that you know. That is pretty cool and this is what makes this exhibit interesting. It makes you think differently about what you routinely see.
Read more in this article about the exhibit:
And you can visit Sou Fujimoto’s website at: http://www.sou-fujimoto.net/