Founding Archigram members Peter Cook and Dennis Crompton will create a digital installation exploring the future of cities at the Design Trust Gala 2019 in Hong Kong.
The installation will draw from the influential British architecture collective’s extensive archive investigating urban design, which was acquired by M+ Museum in Hong Kong in March 2019.
Cook and Crompton will work with local Design Trust grantees to develop and realise the project, including architecture firms Sky Yutaka and New Office Works, research group Hong Kong Design History Network and design market DTBY_.
Taking place on 26 October at the Kerry Hotel in Hong Kong, the gala is an annual fundraising event for Design Trust, a charity that supports creative projects in Hong Kong and the surrounding region.
“Hong Kong has influenced so much of our approach and research on cities and urban environments,” said Cook.
“When Design Trust invited us for this project, we knew it was an opportunity to revisit our archives, but also to look at the future of the built environment and challenge ourselves by interpreting that language into a temporary one-of-a-kind experiential space.”
Cook and Crompton to create “hopeful” installation
Founded in the 1960s by Cook, Crompton, Warren Chalk, Ron Herron, Michael Webb and David Greene, Archigram became famous for its experimental, avant-garde approach to architecture, which often responded to emerging technologies of the period.
Through conceptual projects such as Plug In City, the collective tended to present an optimistic vision for the future of urban life. While Archigram never built anything, its work has influenced many significant contemporary architects including Richard Rogers, Renzo Piano and Norman Foster.
“[Archigram’s] experimental approach has always focused on human needs and creating a hopeful, better way of living which feels timely and necessary for us here and right now,” said Design Trust co-founder and executive director Marisa Yiu.
“We believe working with Archigram and their mentorship of young Hong Kong designers will make a bold statement about the positive physical and emotional impact that design and architecture should have on our city.”
In addition to the installation, Cook and Crompton will design the space for the event in their roles as creative directors for this year’s Design Trust Gala.
Funding for the design is provided by Prada, which is title sponsor of the Design Trust Gala for the second year in a row. Last year’s event featured an installation by OMA architects Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten called Hyper Environment.
Dezeen is a media partner for the Design Trust Gala 2019. We will be publishing video interviews with Cook and Crompton about their installation for the gala, as well as exploring their extensive body of work, in the coming weeks.
Archigram to “look at the future of the built environment” with Hong Kong installation [Dezeen]