Chronograms of Architecture

Contemporary architecture emerges from a richly diverse and highly tuned architecture culture; a constructed discourse, with a constantly written and rewritten history. In an attempt to grasp and reckon with the historical moment that he was living in, Charles Jencks, the legendary father of postmodernism, developed Evolutionary Tree drawings. These drawings, which are somewhere between a diagram and a map, laid out six ideologies that allowed him to categorize all the “-isms” of present, past, and future architectural culture. Architects, buildings, social trends, and technical innovations were plotted on a timeline in relation to these streams. What resulted is the now-iconic image of a series of undulating blobs tracing architecture and society’s pulsations between different ideals though time.

The exhibition Chronograms of Architecture showcases Jencks’ key diagrams, spanning from 1920 to 2000, along with eight newly commissioned diagrams by 8 teams of contemporary architects, researchers and graphic designers, reflecting on the historical moment that we live in today. While none can possibly present a total account, in their own way they each reveal critical and urgent ways of seeing, understanding, and working in the architectural culture of the present. These eight diagrams—perhaps eight streams of a map of now—provoke questions around the techno-optimism and techno-bureaucracy, feminist spatial practice and racial disparity, the ecological implications and productive conditions of architecture, and circular building strategies and the definition of the discipline.

Originally exhibited in London at the Architectural Association, the exhibition at CIVA in Brussels is its first step of a world tour: from Brussels to South Africa, then Asia, the US, and back to London, accumulating new chronograms of architecture along the way. For CIVA, two new chronograms have been commissioned: a „diagram of diagrams“ by London-based architect Maria Fedorchenko, and a history of circularity by Rotor-founder Lionel Devlieger. Exhibited chronograms include works by Pier Vittorio Aureli / Marson Korbi, Mario Carpo / Mark Garcia, Charles L. Davis II / Curry J. Hackett, Lionel Devlieger / Michaël Ghyoot / Adam Przywara / Karen Steukers / Arne Vande Capelle / Louise Vanhee, Maria Fedorchenko / Yeliz Abdurahman, Urtzi Grau / Francesca Hughes, Charles Jencks, MOULD, and Bryony Roberts / Abriannah Aiken.

Highlighting the question of “writing history”, the exhibition space is centered around a large installation by architect Pauline Clarot which is at once vitrine and auditorium and will host a series of talks and workshops by Pier Vittorio Aureli, Mario Carpo, Lieven De Cauter & Gideon Boie, Isabelle Doucet, Carles Guerra, Boris Hamzeian, Michael Jakob, Beatrice Lampariello, Parasite 2.0, Lorenzo Pezzani, Wouter Van Acker, Christophe Van Gerrewey, Mark Wigley, Benjamin Zurstrassen and many others. 

A symposium on May 13 (2:30p–6pm) brings together participants in the Chronograms of Architecture project, past, present, and future: Nick Axel, Nana Biamah-Ofosu, Lionel Devlieger, Maria Fedorchenko, Silvia Franceschini, Nikolaus Hirsch, Francesca Hughes, Sam Jacob, Lily Jencks, Tatjana Schneider, Eszter Steierhoffer. 


The exhibition is accompanied by the publication Chronograms of Architecture, edited by Nick Axel, Silvia Franceschini, Nikolaus Hirsch, Lily Jencks, Eszter Steierhoffer; French/Dutch/English; managing editor: Carlo Menon; graphic designer: Boy Vereecken. Published by CIVA, e-flux architecture, Jencks Foundation at The Cosmic House and Spector Books (ISBN 978-3-95905-909-1).

Artistic director: Nikolaus Hirsch 

/ Curators: Nick Axel, Silvia Franceschini, Nikolaus Hirsch, Lily Jencks, Eszter Steierhoffer / Exhibition architect: Pauline Clarot / Press: Anne-Gaëlle Solé, ag.sole@civa.brussels.

The project Chronograms of Architecture originated as a collaboration between the Jencks Foundation at The Cosmic House and e-flux architecture. The exhibition Chronograms of Architecture is a collaboration between CIVA, e-flux Architecture and the Jencks Foundation at The Cosmic House. 

The exhibition is made possible with the support by the Region Brussels-Capital and Urban.