Isa Genzken: Retrospective Museum of Modern Art New York Through March 10, 2014 In the home stretch before it closes on March 10, Isa Genzken: Retrospective at MoMA shows a sculptor whose work is infused with architecture from her sleek early works of lacquered wood in the engineered Hyperbolos and Ellipsoids series to rougher experiments in plaster, concrete, and steel which resemble architectural maquettes on pedestals including Bank (1985), Rosa Zimmer (Pink Room) (1987), Galerie (1987), Kleiner Pavilion (1989), and Fenster (Window) (1990). The architecture of Berlin and New York inspired some of her most significant work. It tackles subjects like the disposable global culture, the relationship between architecture and site, form and space. Fuck the Bauhaus, New Buildings for New York (2000), New Buildings for Berlin (2004), and Der Amerikanische Raum (The American Room) (2004) are the result: colorful, energetic, and made of many found and industrial materials. Genzken has lived in New York and was there on 9/11, which prompted a series of installations, Ground Zero (2008), and a play called Empire/Vampire (2003) with two protagonists, the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building (video and sculptural set designs). On a more personal note, she has made architectural personification of artist friends including Dan Graham and Wolfgang Tilmans, titled by their first names: Andy, Isa, Dan, Wolfgang, Kai. Catch it.

Materials & Applications: Building Something (Beyond) Beautiful, Projects 2002 – 2013 University Art Museum, Cal State Long Beach Through April 13 On January 25th  a mix of architects, designers, collaborators, and previous staff showed up at the Cal State Long Beach University Art Museum to acknowledge ten years of exhibition work for Silver Lake–based outdoor gallery Materials & Applications. Over the past ten years M&A has been cultivating and showcasing the talents of experimental and young designers interested in testing architectural and landscape environments. Doris Sung, Jiminez Lai, Patterns, Oyler Wu Collaborative, FoxLin, Ball-Nogues Studio, NONDesigns, Anna Franke, Rob Ley, and Eddy Sykes are a few that have built work with M&A. At the center of the show sits the structure entitled S’more by New York–based Edmund Ming-Yip Kwong. This had been transported from M&A’s courtyard to the museum the week before. With a  mantra of collaboration and making things happen, M&A has made a practice of supporting ambitious proposals and teaming with designers, engineers, builders, set makers, students and interested community members to create a string of successful projects. The existing M&A gallery is at the modest scale of a front courtyard in a residential neighborhood off of Silver Lake Blvd. Even with small budgets, their ambition and execution could be compared to MoMA P.S.1's Young Architects Program. In fact M&A’s support in producing installations of new materials and spatial experiences has provided leverage for installation proposals at this level. They show that it can be done. Perhaps the quiet nature of the M&A installations mixed in with apartment buildings has kept them as a more insular gallery. Walking through the show, it is unmistakable that the quality and variety of projects deserves more attention. It isn’t until you see the timeline of executed projects that  you grasp the relevancy and significance of what they have achieved. In the next month, a large-scale, site-specific installation located at the north end of the CSULB campus will be built as a continuation of the exhibit and spirit of M&A.

Opening this week at Rome's MAXXI is an exhibition honoring the late Alessandro Anselmi. Curated by his son and associate Valentino Anselmi and Valerio Palmieri, this important exhibition consists of 100 exquisite drawings, models, and watercolors from the 1960s through 2002. The show is organized thematically to lead the viewer through various aspects of Anselmi's ouerve: the Architect's Dream, the Geometry of Memory, the Figuration of the Modern, Fragments and Enclosures, Geometrized Nature. Among the projects on view are his cemetery of Parabita in Puglia, the State Archive in Florence, the restructuring of Piazza dei Navigatori in Rome. The exhibition highlights an architect who was in many ways radical, but fully inserted into the dynamics of the contemporary debate, but always guided by a passion for history, and intensely sensitive to issues of place and context. One senses his profoundly Roman formation. His vision—intimate and almost oneiric—allowing us to speculate on its possible metaphysical influences.

Frank Lloyd Wright and the City: Density vs. Dispersal Museum of Modern Art 11 West 53 Street, New York, NY February 1 to June 1 Frank Lloyd Wright and the City: Density vs. Dispersal will represent the first exhibit resulting from the recent join acquisition of the architect’s archives by MoMA and Columbia University’s Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library. The models, drawings, and films found within the extensive collection will allow the museum to illustrate the tension in Wright’s urban thinking in the 1920s and 30s. Even as he undertook projects that contributed to the increasingly vertical nature of American cities, he created a radical horizontal vision of urban life known as Broadacre City. The elaborate model of this agrarian metropolis created by Wright and his students will be displayed alongside the architect’s designs for the San Francsico Call Building, Mahattan’s St. Mark’s-in-the-Bouwerie Towers, and a largely theoretical mile-high skyscraper.

When Andres Lepik was a curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, he organized and curated Small Scale, Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement (2011). It was a landmark show for MoMA and identified a developing design trend of socially engaged projects aimed not at "grand manifestos" but to ones committed to "radical pragmatism." Now back in Germany, Lepik has curated an equally ground breaking exhibition on social design. The exhibit Afritecture: Building Social Change at the TU Munich Architecture Museum rightly focuses on the African content as the most exciting and creative place for todays architecture of social engagement. These projects are by both African- and non-African–based architects but all participate in a global network of social practices, groups, and organizations. They are all devoted to solving the continent's demanding social problems—often with advanced technologies but always using local materials and engaged with local and even traditional building practices. The exhibition comprises twenty eight projects from ten countries within Subsaharan Africa, including Kenya, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and South Africa. There is a catalogue in both German and English by Hatje Cantz publishers and the exhibit runs through February 2, 2014.

The Erasmus Effect: Italian Architect's Abroad MAXXI Museum Rome, Italy Through April 6, 2014 The architecture and urbanism of Italy has long been an inspiration to architects from other parts of the world. From the grand tours of Lord Burlington and Thomas Jefferson to the establishment of the American, French, and British Academies, Robert Venturi's lessons learned from Rome, and the enormous influence of Manfredo Tafuri, Italy has been important to how we view architecture and livable cities. But now an exhibition, The Erasmus Effect: Italian Architect's Abroad, opening today at Rome's MAXXI Museum details how the world is enriched when Italian born and educated architects emigrate and find success abroad. The exhibit, curated by Pippo Ciorra, the Maxxi's thoughtful and prolific architecture curator (see his Energy: Oil and Post Oil Architecture Grids.) documents the " journeys, experiences, and stories of the many Italian architects to have found success abroad." This out-bound emigration by Italian architects is, of course, not new, and the exhibit documents the 20th century figures who left the country like Lina Bo Bardi, Paolo Soleri, Romaldo Giurgola, and Pietro Belluschi. The title, Erasmus Effect, is taken from the 1987 European communities exchange program that allowed students on the content to travel to other countries to study. But the exhibit's theme also documents the more troubling issue for the country: the inability of its young architects to have a career in the economically troubled nation. It also questions the problems of trying to actually create architecture in contemporary Italy, and what this means for the country's "brain drain" and future. Erasmus Effect includes projects by contemporary Italian expats: Architecture and Vision, Atelier Manferdini, Alessandra Cianchetta, Delugan Meissl, Djuric-Tardio Architectes, Durisch + Nolli Architetti, Barozzi / Veiga, ecoLogicStudio, Benedetta Tagliabue, gravalosdimontearquitectos, Vittorio Garatti, KUEHN MALVEZZI, LAN Architecture, Marpillero Pollak Architects, MORQ*, Paritzki Liani Architects, simone solinas, ssa | solinasserra architects, 3GATTI. The Maxxi installation is brilliantly conceived by New York City–based Italian architectural firm LOT-EK, who's signature shipping container architecture perfectly suits the "movement" theme underlying the show. Erasmus Effect opened December 6 and continues through April 6, 2014.

UNESCOitalia: Italy’s World Heritage Sites in the Works of 14 Photographers Mueso Italo Americano Fort Mason Center, Building C San Francisco December 6 to January 26, 2014 In celebration of 2013: The Year of Italian Culture in the United States, the Museo Italo Americano, in partnership with the Italian Cultural Institute and the Consulate General of Italy in San Francisco, will be showcasing a collection of images of Italy’s UNESCO World Heritage sites as seen through the lenses of 14 prominent Italian photographers. To be proclaimed a World Heritage site, a number of criteria must be met, and the site must hold outstanding universal value by means of exceptional design or cultural significance to a group or civilization. As of June 2013, Italy has 49 UNESCO World Heritage sites, which is more than any other single country in the world. The traveling show will be on display at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco from December 6, 2013, to January 26, 2014. Ambassador of Italy to the United States, Claudio Bisogniero, describes the exhibition as, “A journey in pictures, bringing the Italian wonders to the United States. Fine art photography for a fascinating exhibition: a visual adventure across the length and breadth of our country.”

Form/Unformed: Design from 1960 to the Present The Dallas Museum of Art 1717 North Harwood Street Dallas, TX Extended through December 2014 The Dallas Museum of Art is celebrating the work of prolific designers and architects from the 1960s to the present with its first comprehensive design exhibition. Some of the featured designers include Robert Venturi, Frank Gehry, Aldo Rossi, Zaha Hadid, and Donald Judd. Drawn entirely from the Museum’s own collection, the exhibition reveals the evolution of forms and ideologies that have shaped international design over the last half century. “Several of the works on view are recent acquisitions that reflect the continuing expansion of the Museum’s decorative arts and design program to include historic American and European work, as well as contemporary objects of international significance,” said Bonnie Pitman, The Eugene McDermott Director of the Dallas Museum of Art. From modern jewelry like The Golden Fleece, to iconic furniture, the exhibition spotlights the extraordinary work of some of the best designers of our time.

TransformKC is underway in Kansas City, and the dozens of projects on display are provoking discussion on topics from public transit to energy infrastructure. A joint effort between the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance (KCRTA) and the American Institute of Architects Kansas City (AIA KC) Young Architects Forum (YAF), TransformKC curated built and unbuilt work around the topic of “regional mobility” in an attempt to “inspire the public’s imagination.” Explore all of the submissions here. Categories include architecture, infrastructure, planning, transit stations and urban design. The exhibition is on display in the East Hall of Kansas City, Missouri’s Union Station through October 25. Some work is local, like BNIM’s Better Block KC. Part of the 2011 Grand Boulevard Streetscape Plan, Better Block KC “envisions a safe, livable and walkable downtown” that uses complete street concepts. Disclosure: The Architect’s Newspaper is a media sponsor, and AN contributor Gunnar Hand served as the exhibition’s co-chair. Here are a few of the high-profile projects from outside Kansas City: BIG: Loop City Bjarke Ingels Group looks to a new light rail loop connecting 20 development zones around the 4-square-mile inner city of Copenhagen. They propose tying energy and water infrastructure into the rail line, creating “an artery of true urbanity pumping life into the heart of the suburbs.” KPF: Hudson Yards See AN's coverage of Kohn Pedersen Fox’s Hudson Yards towers here. SOM: Denver Union Station Skidmore, Owings and Merrill's plan calls for turning the historic Denver station into a multi-modal transportation network. John Gendall looked into the project for AN's feature on master planning.

Streets occupy nearly a quarter of New York City's land, however there are limited outdoor spaces to socialize, sit, and enjoy city life outside of parks. As part of an effort to improve the quality of public space for all New Yorkers, the NYC Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) has been developing new public open space by converting underutilized street spaces into pedestrian plazas. With dozens of plazas already open and functioning across the city, the NYCDOT has been looking to polish the new spaces, installing permanent designs, improved benches, and now, specially designed signs to showcase public art. Ten art display cases were on view from May through late August 2013 at Brooklyn’s Willoughby Plaza—one of the city’s first asphalt strips once dedicated to cars and subsequently transformed into a pedestrian space. The signs were part of NYCDOT's Urban Art Program and were part of its inaugural show titled There is no US Without U. The sail-like panels were designed by the NYC-based architectural and urban design firm Architecture Research Office (ARO) and were fabricated by Rhode Island–based custom composite construction leader Goetz Composites. Each panel is composed of three integrated elements: a sail-like field material involving an anti-graffiti coating, beveled panel edges clad in stainless steel, and stainless steel panel bases connecting the panels to the ground. The idea takes inspiration partially from recreational equipment and incorporates materials typically associated with boats. DOT sought a prominent boat builder to collaborate with the design team to create the construction details and assemble the prototype, which was exhibited last year at Bogardus Plaza and Water and Whitehall Plaza. Through an art therapy program at the VA New York Harbor Healthcare System, veterans created the featured artwork shown on the new display kiosks. The exhibit will now be moved other public spaces around New York City. All images by James Ewing / Courtesy NYCDOT.

Mixtec Stonecutting Artistry: 16th Century Ribbed Vaults in Mixteca, Mexico HGA Gallery Rapson Hall, Goldstein Museum of Design, University of Minnesota 89 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN August 24, 2013 to October 13, 2013 Sixteenth century Mexico was home to buildings of extraordinary construction quality erected for the thousands of people converting to Christianity. Indigenous craftsmen utilized the most sophisticated technology and their profound understanding of locally accessible materials in an intricate system of symbiosis to collaborate with Spanish architects who were experienced with the architecture of the ribbed vault. Employing Mixtecan masonry techniques and European geometry, they collaborated to construct three churches in the Mixteca region of southern Mexico with sophisticated geometrical vaults unique to 16th century America. Through digitally scanning San Pablo Teposcolula, Santa Domingo Yanhuitlán, and San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca, researcher and guest curator Benjamin Ibarra-Sevilla, Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of Minnesota’s College of Design, was able to produce scale replicas of each gothic dome. Mixtec Stonecutting Artistry: 16th Century Ribbed Vaults in Mixteca, Mexico, on view from August 24 to October 13, 2013, reveals the complex digital scanning, documentation, and three-dimensional modeling that facilitated the research and replication of the rib vaults in the late 20th century.

Unbuilt San Francisco Multiple venues San Francisco Through November 2013 AIA San Francisco/Center for Architecture + Design, California Historical Society/SPUR, The Environmental Design Archives at UC Berkley, and the San Francisco Public Library present this ambitious collaborative exhibition of architecture that never came to be. Spread throughout five venues, Unbuilt San Francisco describes a parallel history of “what if’s” and “could have beens” of architecture and urban design that were too fantastic or too grandiose for the City by the Bay. These unrealized visions offer San Franciscans a glimpse of the hopes and ambitions of past generations, as well as provide inspiration for the future of architecture and the city. Images offered in the exhibition include a grand casino on Alcatraz, freeways encircling the city, rejected neighborhood renewal plans, alternate designs for famous landmarks including San Francisco City Hall and the Ferry Building, and ecological provocations of today’s architectural vanguard. The opening reception will be held in Annie Alley between 678 and 654 Mission Street in San Francisco on September 6 at 5:00 p.m.