Antonia Jannone Disegni di Architettura gallery, Milan, presents Half Earth, a new exhibition of work by Steven Holl. The exhibition borrows its title from biologist E.O. Wilson whose 2016 book proposes that “only by committing half of the planet’s surface to nature can we hope to save the immensity of life-forms that compose it.”
‘Edge of a City’ preservation studies for Phoenix (Spatial Retaining Bars, 1988) and Dallas (Spiroid Sectors, 1991) are taken further in model fragments of new communities for displaced climate change migrants sited on a proposed maglev train connecting Phoenix to Dallas. Geothermally heated and cooled, these new communities include living, working, recreational, and cultural activities. With maximum porosity for light and air, each 10- to 21-story megaform is different.
The exhibition also features a wall-sized view of Gran Sasso, the highest mountain in the Apennines, with models and studies for a new community public square, the Gran Sasso pavilion and hotel transformations.
In addition to plans and models, the exhibition includes large watercolor paintings inspired by John Cage’s ideas on chance-controlled creation. Indeed, more than half of the forms have been left to the randomness of water and chance.
Steven Holl: Half Earth is on view May 26 – July 14, 2023 at Antonia Jannone Disegni di Architettura, Corso Giuseppe Garibaldi, 125, Milano. An illustrated catalogue with texts by Fulvio Irace and Evan Douglis will accompany the exhibition. For more information visit www.antoniajannone.it