Salone Selection
The creative world of Mollino, the collective work of Piuarch, Komagata’s pop-up tree, aphorisms from Socrates to Rem Koolhaas, and Emmanuel Carrère’s family furniture. 14 must- read titles
10 exhibitions for architecture and design buffs this summer
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La Pyramide, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. 1968–73. Rinaldo Olivieri (1931–1998). 2025. Photograph: François-Xavier Gbré
Summer 2026 designs the map of an exhibition geography where architecture and design explore archives of modernism, contemporary practices, and new ecologies of design
Ranging from a critical re-reading of the Italian tradition at the MAXXI to post-colonial genealogies of modernism in West Africa at the MoMA, and material experiments with raw earth in Lisbon, an enlarged field emerges where design is increasingly entwined with context, resources, and spatial politics. Through historic institutions and research platforms, exhibitions become tools for understanding not just what architecture has been but what it is becoming. To these are added the major exhibitions and monographs published at the start of the year.
Vitalità dell’architettura italiana 1946–2026
Curated by Pippo Ciorra and Elena Tinacci, the exhibition retraces eighty years of Italian architecture from the post-war period until today. Archives, models and contemporary projects create a critical narrative that relates the modernist heritage to new design practices.
Where: Rome, MAXXI
When: until 15 November 2026
Vitalità dell’architettura italiana 1946–2026, Rome, MAXXI - ©Giorgio Benni, courtesy of MAXXI Foundation
A Structure of Feeling. On a New Generation of Architects in China
Curated by Gao Changjun (Kris) with Li Xiangning, the exhibition draws on the legacy of TUMU to interpret a new generation of Chinese architects outside the great state institutes but still within their tensions. Twelve projects – urban, rural and infrastructure – define a changing condition. The title recalls Raymond Williams and a “structure of feeling” in becoming, rather than a complete form.
Where: Berlin, Aedes Architecture Forum
When: 4 July – 14 October 2026
A Structure of Feeling - courtesy aedes - dida LYCEUM School, Chongzuo, Guangxi, CN, 2022. © Zhu Yumeng Annoso · Hill, Tengchong, Yunnan, CN, 2019. © Jin Weiqi
Atlas Re-Edificatòria – Adrià Goula
Curated by Alexandra Laudo with Adrià Goula, the exhibition is part of the Barcelona 2026 World Capital of Architecture program. Through photographs of building sites and regeneration processes, the project builds an atlas of architectural transformation, creating a dialogue between construction practice and contemporary visual arts.
Where: Barcelona, Palau d’Alfarràs, Spain
When: until 28 September 2026
Atlas Re-Edificatòria, Barcelona, Palau d’Alfarràs - Courtesy of metalocus ©Adrià Goula
Is Nature Modern? Ecological Perspectives in the MAO Collection
Curated by Cvetka Požar and Maja Vardjan, the exhibition reinterprets the MAO’s collection to question the relations between modernism and nature. Through 20th-century projects, photography and design, it reveals the fracture between industrial progress and the environment, as well as the first forms of ecological thought. A critical reading that today reconsiders modernism in the light of the climate crisis and the relation between nature and culture.
Where: Ljubljana, MAO
When: until 31 October 2026
Is Nature Modern? Ecological Perspectives in the MAO Collection, Ljubljana, MAO - Courtesy of MAO
Form Follows Love – Anna Heringer
The exhibition devoted to Anna Heringer presents her projects through the principle "Form Follows Love", understood as an ethical and social approach to architecture. The focus is on the use of local materials and construction techniques shared with communities. A section focuses on the “Claystorming” method, developed with Martin Rauch, which combines design intuition and collective process. The layout includes her work as a teacher and international dissemination of her architecture as a model of active and transformative sustainability.
Where: Dornbirn, Vorarlberger Architektur Institut
When: until 19 September 2026
