New Work: LANZA Atelier
Architecture firm LANZA atelier introduces three projects in this new edition of “New Work,” a series that SFMOMA has developed to provide a platform for experimentation.
This New Work exhibition introduces three projects by Mexico City–based architecture firm LANZA Atelier, comprising architects Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo. Founded in 2015, LANZA Atelier has quickly earned accolades for their precise and thoughtful approach, underscoring the relevance of design in everyday interactions. In their first solo show in the U.S., the duo draws upon their interest in Mexico City’s architectural history, bringing communities together through architectural interventions, and repurposing existing infrastructure for public benefit.
These three projects range in scale, from furniture to large-scale public works. The Steps Table invites viewers to experiment with one’s own body in relation to furniture, exploring the limits of what kind of objects can be meaningfully understood as a table, and questioning commonly accepted concept of such furniture. Shared Structures present a graphic history of a rapidly densifying Mexico City by comparing architecturally-significant residential buildings from the last century. Finally, S/N rescues Mexico City’s “Modules of Security and Citizen Participation” –structures built in the 1980s to monitor neighborhoods in the case of an emergency– and reconverts them into useful urban facilities.