Dissident Gardens – Het Nieuwe Instituut, Metropolis M (review)

PUBLISHED Apr 2018

Five exhibitions at Het Nieuwe Instituut, united under the overarching thesis Dissident Gardens, focus in varied ways on expressions of the classic struggle between nature and culture. In the display of works by artists, designers and architects spread out over the ground and first-floor gallery spaces, viewers are invited to engage with current developments in man’s relationship to the natural world through Biotopia, Smart Farming, Gardening Mars and Pleasure Parks. The entire upper floor, dedicated to the exhibition The Human Insect: Antenna Architecture 1887- 2017, is the focus of this review. The exhibition is curated by the former dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP), Mark Wrigley, a curator, academic and architect who is renowned for his extensive writings on the theory and practice of architecture. Wrigley is also one of the co-founders of Volume Magazine together with Rem Koolhaas and Ole Bouman.