'Acknowledging that architecture is a corpus of inherited ideas, Alternative Histories invited more than 80 contemporary practices in the UK and Europe. Their task was to imagine an exchange with architects from the past. To begin with, each office was assigned a different drawing from the collection of Drawing Matter. These ranged from the frontispiece of the abbé Laugier’s 1753 Essai sur l’architecture and a plan of the Villa Snellman, to studies for a theatre by Carlo Scarpa. The architects were then tasked with making a model that responded to what they saw. Additionally, they had to envision an alternative future for the original drawing. Moreover, the project imposed specific constraints. Although the models comprised different materials and scales, they had to be transportable. Their footprints also had to fit within the surface area of the historic drawings. Taken as a whole, the responses challenge the simplistic understanding of reference, history, or influence in contemporary architectural thinking. The project explores new methods and materials, offering fresh perspectives on the past. It also initiates conversations about how architects shape their present.
The project was co-curated by Jantje Engels and Marius Grootveld, in collaboration with Drawing Matter and the Architecture Foundation, London. It was first presented at Cork Street, London, and then at CIVA, Brussels. In October 2020, the models were exhibited at the Irish Architectural Archive for the Dublin iteration.'
Source: Drawing Matter
