KOOZ The exhibition “Multiplicity” explores how design and architecture are adapting to a period marked by unprecedented inequality, climate change, pandemics, and a demand to reconsider and rewrite the canon that defines them. In what ways and through what means does the exhibition explore this question?

VYIAYANTHI RAO Both Tau and I come from similar backgrounds in that we are both from the Global South but have had the privilege of travelling and meeting a wide pool of people from all sides of the pond. We could have been discouraged by the complicated, expensive, networking frenzy and spectacle-like attributes with which Triennale’s are generally associated with, but rather we decided to seize the opportunity and experiment.

The title came at the very beginning and quite naturally as we soon realised that what we were presenting was not a unified perspective but rather very different and specific contexts. Instead of aiming for one set of homogenous ideas which could presumably save the world, "Multiplicity" wants to connect these unique niches whilst retaining what distinguishes them.

KOOZ Arranged in five parts which span from Agenda, Appropriations, Systems (re-)Engineering, Manufacture/Acceleration and Knowledge-building/Research, the exhibition explores how these fields are evolving, amalgamating, and mutating in an era of profound global uncertainty. What are their implications for the discipline of architecture?

VR Beyond the interdisciplinary, architecture must become more open and engage with people who have no training and no resources but who are exploring alternative forms of spatial intervention. To expand and see those things, another step is required. We need to reform what we consider current knowledge systems and include these voices.

Even in anthropology, where the voice of the native is very much fetishized and when reporting their findings, it is indeed the anthropologists’ voice that speaks in the end. Rather than giving a voice to the others in a process of co-creation, it becomes an authoritative creation. I am interested in how knowledge frameworks are changing and, rather than thinking about people, one now thinks with people. In order to expand our understanding of architecture we need to focus on the politics of knowledge and how knowledge is always situated.

KOOZ How would you define architecture from an anthropological perspective?

VR Whether built or un-built, for me architecture certainly consists in a spatial intervention that creates opportunities or networks. A clear example is the toilet; When observed within the context of a house, the toilet creates one set of relations that are focused on the domestic, however, when placed within a community context (such as a community toilet) these relations become quite different. I recently heard a conference by anthropologist Brenda Chalfin who spoke about a research project based in Ghana, a place that is very well known for public toilets. The latter are generally installed within the backyards of households, becoming extended toilet and bathing facilities open for use by people who do not have them. Operated by the individual households, the research reveals how these shared toilet and bathing facilities are incredibly vibrant social spaces located at the intersection of private and public sphere. Nonetheless one cannot say the same for India, where community toilets in informal settlements or places where there is a poor sanitation, has oftentimes led to the creation of dangerous places.

As anthropologists we analyse and understand spatial relations from a cultural perspective and, of course, architecture plays a key role in that. Good architecture should be both sensitive and reflecting the context for which it is being produced. It should be also generous in generating new and improved contexts.

KOOZ How could these reflections contribute to architecture?

VR Every architect is also a person who inhabits a particular language, comes from a particular region, and has a place in the world. I do not necessarily think that there is a problem with the architect but rather with the discipline of architecture into which the figure of the architect has been socialised into thinking in terms of solutions. The problem lies in how the architecture is conceived and taught as a problem-solving discipline. What happens is that the way you frame problems becomes very standardised. The relationship between architecture and anthropology should help to move away from that standardisation. In response to this condition, our exhibition also has a focus on knowledge and the production and deployments of this understanding as an architect.

KOOZ Beyond the fields of architecture and design and the space of cultural institutions. To what extent do conversations and concrete actions around these challenges require a multidisciplinary pool of practitioners and thinkers?

VR I think that it is crucial for practices to be multidisciplinary. In fact, architecture can be an anchor for the production of knowledge about society, about culture and so many other things. At a time when our world is changing and becoming more and more turbulent, I believe that professions should become platforms for the gathering of knowledge.

KOOZ How does the “Retroactive” exhibition situate itself within the larger ambitions and agenda proposed by chief-curators Cristina Veríssimo and Diogo Burna within the context of “Terra”?

LORETA CASTRO REGUERA We are grateful to the main curators for setting a topic that is of universal interest and importance today. As a practice, we were already working on projects which tackled similar themes and questions introduced by the Triennale and, through this exhibition, we had the possibility of strengthening our ideas and engaging with like-minded individuals and architects in exploring the power of design towards a common goal for our planet. Rather than focusing on the design of beautiful buildings and interiors, the exhibition is a call to action which asks architects to take their pen in hand and explore the healing power of design.

KOOZ Your contribution focuses on the “broken city” and the premise that although the present and future of humanity are mainly urban, the fabric where such life is and will happen is either deteriorated or underserved. Could you expand a bit more on this assertion and your definition of the term “broken” at the scale of the city?

JOSÉ PABLO AMBROSI We decided to focus on the broken city and specifically the term “broken” as when one hears this word one instantly starts to think of how to “un-brake” and to heal. Today there is a lot of talk on irregular cities and poor cities (as favelas) which are commonly associated to the southern hemisphere. Our exhibition wants to break away from this prejudice and explore what the broken aspects of cities worldwide, whether they are in the north or the south. Through the work undertaken with our office we want to make cities work and see how we can operate to mend them, only when our cities will work then our planet will also thrive.

KOOZ In what ways and with what objectives does the exhibition seek to engage both practitioners and the wider public in this discourse?

LCR This is a very interesting question because effectively it is not an easy task to design these kinds of spaces, it is an intervention that is not comparable to when one is given a commission and develops a project in response to a brief but rather, in this case, the architect becomes an activist. Through research one finds a condition which soon becomes impossible to ignore, but rather invites us to start thinking and drafting possible strategies and solutions. This is often the case if one operates through a research practice or within the realm of academia. By slowly understanding and unravelling all the forces which are at play within this specific condition one starts to define who are the personalities that need to be involved and, of course, this always includes the community. If we take as a case study the potential issue of waste one starts questioning where waste comes from, who in the government oversees waste management and so on, so one starts questioning formal institutions, governmental institutions, academic institutions.

The role of the architect is obviously tied to the act of designing; however, we are also activators and communicators. Exhibitions play a key role in engaging other actors in discussions around the “broken city” and in realizing that it is a shared problem for which we can collectively come together to find efficient solutions. If we want to continue living on this planet we need to start working as a team.

JBA We believe in the power of design as a tool which can engage and communicate with all other actors and generate an approach which is neither bottom up or top down.

Bio

Vyjayanthi Rao is an anthropologist, writer, curator and ethnographer studying architecture, infrastructure and social life in large cities, focusing on DIY infrastructure-making and the role of the arts and design in the city. Her practice combines ethnographic fieldwork with mapping, filmmaking and other forms of visual research. Co-director of the New York-based Terreform Center for Advanced Urban Research and founding co-director of PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge, Action and Research) in Mumbai. She has received her BA in Anthropology from Brandeis University, a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Chicago, was a post-doc at Yale University and taught at The New School for Social Research prior to my current positions.

Tau Tavengwa is co-founder, curator and editor of Cityscapes, a hybrid journal/magazine print title focused on cities and urban life across Africa, Latin America and South Asia. Each issue presents stories and analyses on the current and future state of urbanisation from a Global South perspective. He is a curator-at-large for the African Centre for Cities at the University of Cape Town and a fellow at universities worldwide such as the London School of Economics and Harvard. With a background in architecture and museum design, and art and architecture publishing, his work over the last 12 years has focused on urban issues, through multiple exhibitions, periodicals, books and films.

Awarded with several scholarships, Loreta Castro Reguera won the Mexico City Biennale Prize for Social Architecture. Her research on water and design earned her the Druker Traveling Fellowship Award and the Lafarge Holcim Award for Sustainable Construction. She co-founded Taller Capital with José Pablo Ambrosi, a studio focusing on city design through densification and infrastructural public spaces and is a professor at the UNAM. She has studied Architecture at the School of Architecture of UNAM, has a Master in Architecture form Mendrisio Academy of Architecture, and a Master in Urban Design with Distinction from the Harvard GSD.

José Pablo Ambrosi is co-founder in 2010 of Taller Capital with Loreta Castro Reguera. Their work focuses on city design through densification and infrastructural public spaces, aiming for material austerity and spatial richness. The studio has earned national and international recognition and prizes, such as the 2021 Architectural League Emerging Voices Award and the 2017 Mexico City Bienial for their Eco Pavillion. Ambrosi studied architecture at the National Autonomous University of Mexico through an exchange programme at the UPC Barcelona. He also pursued an Executive MBA at the Instituto Panamericano de Alta Dirección de Empresas.