Revisiting the exhibition: Sensing Spaces
Published on 9 June 2020
In 2014, an architecture exhibition took over the Royal Academy that invited audiences not just to step inside it, but to touch it, smell it and feel it. With a curator's introduction, a documentary from the show and interviews with the architects, we take a trip back to the monumental exhibition, ‘Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined’.
In 2014, the Royal Academy staged an ambitious exhibition in our Main Galleries which featured seven architectural practices from across the globe. We tasked them with reawakening our visitors’ sensibilities to the spaces around them, inviting an appreciation of the emotional power of architecture. From a ‘smell cave’ incorporating traditional Japanese aromas, to a monumental structure made of Chilean pine, collectively the installations brought to the fore the experiential and sensorial qualities of architecture.
As part of the exhibition, filmmaker Candida Richardson travelled across four continents to meet the architects and hear about their practices. Alongside an introduction from the curator, Kate Goodwin, the following films document how their architectural ideologies were implemented within the walls of the RA.
Step inside the exhibition
Gallery Images
Long before my exhibition, ‘Sensing Spaces’ was a really important precursor to the idea that, wow, we can use the entire volumes of these gallery spaces, not just the walls or the light.
Antony Gormley
Kate Goodwin
Our curator introduces the Royal Academy exhibition, ‘Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined’.
Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined
Candida Richardson was commissioned to make films about the participating architects in their home countries. This 16-minute film was shown in the final gallery as an immersive screening.
Diébédo Francis Kéré
Learn more about architect Diébédo Francis Kéré, whose work appears in the exhibition.
Grafton Architects
Learn more about Grafton Architects, whose work appears in the exhibition.
Pezo von Ellrichshausen
Learn more about Pezo von Ellrichshausen, whose work appears in the exhibition.
Timelapse
Watch a timelapse of the installation of Pezo von Ellrichshausen's work in the Royal Academy galleries.
Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura
Learn more about architects Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura, whose work appears in the exhibition.
Li Xiaodong
Learn more about architect Li Xiaodong, whose work appears in the exhibition.
Kengo Kuma
Learn more about architect Kengo Kuma, whose work appears in the exhibition.
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