Room Without Walls

In order to encourage distance, this exhibition isn’t really attempting to be an exhibition at all. It does not demand your full attention, nor does it attempt to deliver its message all at once. It aspires to deflect the monotony of the archetypal ‘stand-and-look’ show by creating a clearing amid the congestion to reflect on the material that’s been gathered and the voices convened.

In Therapy brings together unconscious and conscious elements (the pyramid of projects and a collection of reflections, respectively) in order to tease out the connections and conflicts between architecture and Nordic society at large. It is architecture—in its broadest role as a spatial, social, and cultural practice—which sits at the center of this discourse.

In this sense, In Therapy is a mirror: a collection of installations which presents the breadth of contemporary Nordic architecture, assembled under one roof, to provide an informed framework for discussion and proposition. It positions Finland, Norway and Sweden—three countries with distinct histories, cultures and attitudes to design—face to face in the context of the compressed world of the Giardini, interrogating perceptions and preconceptions of Nordic architecture by openly addressing its built manifestation head on.