Rirkrit Tiravanija. The House That Jack Built

“The House That Jack Built” is the most comprehensive retrospective to date devoted to the thirty years spatial practice and engagement with architecture in Rirkrit Tiravanija’s oeuvre.

Starting with replicas of projects by names such as Sigurd Lewerentz, Le Corbusier, Rudolf Schindler, Frederick Kiesler, Jean Prouvé, Carlo Scarpa, and Philip Johnson, Tiravanija develops works in which architecture functions as a relational space, capable of speaking of those who inhabit it and shaping the experience of those who encounter it.

The title refers to demonstration— understood both as a political protest and as a display of talent or a hobby.
The platform hosts a series of daily public activities related to the social, sporting, recreational, and educational spheres, staged in collaboration with local organizations and associations in Milan.

untitled 2026 (half-scale single family home no. 47, with interior decoration by children of scuola bambini bicocca and “ABC del quartiere,” ages 4 to 6) consists of two models of houses conceived by the artist as play spaces for children.

Each module is a half-scale reconstruction of the Single Family House no. 47 (1930) by architect Sigurd Lewerentz, a Modernist and Functionalist prototype.
Children can play in it and those form a local school could reinterpret the space in a free and unconventional manner.

untitled 1997 (playtime) is inspired by the famous Glass House by Philip Johnson.
Inside the installation, the artist includes an excerpt from the film Playtime by director Jacques Tati, which offers an ironic reflection on modern life in the contemporary city.

The space is designed to host activites and creative workshops.

Travel plays a key role in Tiravanija’s life and art. In some works such as untitled 1995 (tent installation), untitled 1997 (cinéma de ville, berlin-bangkok) and untitled 1998 (cinéma de ville) the artist makes use of tents, mobile and temporary shelters linked to a nomadic lifestyle, introducing a mobile dimension and forms of communal living.

Tiravanija’s starting point for the series including untitled 2006-08 (palm pavilion), untitled 2006 (tropical house) and untitled 2026 (pavilion, table and puzzle representing the famous painting by Delacroix La Liberté Guidant le Peuple, 1830) (photocopy)

is the work of French architect and designer Jean Prouvé, who  developed a series of lightweight, demountable, and replicable construction systems designed for the hot humid climates of the French colonial empire. 
These works prompt reflection on borders, mobility, and the administrative legacy of colonialism.        

Stemming from the Dom-Ino House by Le Corbusier, a prototype of affordable housing, Tiravanija presents untitled 1998 (dom-ino) as a participatory and relational environment in which architectural space is activated by human presence—through play, interaction, and temporary cohabitation.

untitled 1996 (rehearsal studio no. 6, open version) is a fully functioning music rehearsal studio, freely accessible to musicians and visitors for practice and improvisation. The work is designed as a platform for experimentation and entertainment, open for rehearsing and the unexpected.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C. (2019); National Gallery of Singapore (2018); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2016); Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas (2014); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2012); 

Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Germany (2010); Fridericianum, Kassel (2009); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2005); Portikus, Frankfurt am Main (2004, 2001); Secession, Vienna (2002); Kunsthall Oslo (2001); 

Shanghai Biennale (2025); Helsinki Biennial (2021); Sharjah Biennial (2015, 2007); Venice Biennale (2015, 2011, 2009, 2003, 1993); Gwangju Biennale (2012; 1995); 

Lyon Biennale (2007, 1995); São Paulo Biennial (2006); Whitney Biennial (2006, 1995); Dakar Biennale (2004); Liverpool Biennial (2004, 2002); Istanbul Biennial (2001);